Routine

Routine



“Keep your distance so you can see which way you
should go, for you have not traveled this way before.”
-Joshua 3:4

On the surface, it seems like a paradox. We serve a God who doesn’t change. He has told us in Malachi 3:6 “I am the Lord, I change not”. In Hebrews, He is “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever”. And in James, He is “the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows”. The seeming paradox is that while God doesn’t change, He always does things differently, from one person to another, and even in each of our lives.

In the early church, Peter, James and John were the three disciples who were closest to the Lord, accompanying Him when Jairus’s daughter was healed, going up the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord and praying with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. But their lives turned out drastically different, the Lord having a different plan for each of them. James was martyred by Herod in the infancy of the early church, Peter went on to pastor the church in Jerusalem before being martyred later in life, while John died a natural death after being exiled to the island of Patmos and writing the Book of Revelation.

We so like the comfort and dependability of routine that serving a God who doesn’t treat everyone the same (but He is perfect in fairness!) and who doesn’t do the same thing today that He did yesterday can be difficult and challenging. When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, Moses held his staff out over the water and the waters parted. Years later though, when it came time to cross the Jordan, it was not going to be same-old, same-old for God’s people. No, this time would be different; this time He told them to step into the water, and that when they did, their miracle would occur. This time, after years of seeing God provide miraculously and defeat their every enemy, a step of faith would be required for the waters to part.

When you look up the word “routine” in the dictionary, you see included in the definition words like predictable, commonplace, ordinary, and unimaginative. When we get into routines, we no longer have to think or listen; we just go through the motions. But that’s not how God operates. He wants us to have a living, present tense relationship with Him. He wants our lives to be directed by what He is speaking to us today, in this moment of time, according to His unique plans and purposes for each of our lives. Let’s each have ears that are open and attentive to the Lord speaking a fresh word to our hearts today!



God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church