Is God Routine?

Is it a good thing to have routine? Well, for me, in a lot of ways, I think it is. Haven't we all heard that children do better with routine? If we deviate from an infants schedule they almost always begin to get fussy. If we allow our school aged children to stay up until they just pass out to sleep each night on their own, studies have shown that they do not do as well in school, they are cranky the next day, their immune system gets a bit shot and they have disciplinary problems. If I don't wake up and find a warm cup of tea and have some time alone with God, I find that my mornings feel rushed and disoriented. The rest of my day I feel sluggish. If there isn't some sort of organization and planning to my days and weeks, I feel like my life is absolutely out of control. At the same time, I love to do things with little notice, so long as it somehow fits into my plan - perhaps in an empty spot. Is God routine?

I think God is a spur of the moment God. At the same time, God has routine. Isn't that just like God? He can be jealous without allowing himself to sin. Unlike human anger, He can get angry but in a good and righteous way; He never falls in to sin because of His anger. Well, as I ponder this question, I believe God is a spur of the moment God AND He maintains His routine.

When God created the world, there was routine. In perfect timing, perfect order, before time even began, before earth was here, with utmost thought and attention to detail, with amazing love - He created us. There was order in creation (Genesis 1-6).

Throughout the stories in the bible there was a routine. Think about the story of Moses and the Israelite people, Noah and the Ark, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, Joseph and his brothers, Jonah and the Whale, Daniel in the Lions Den. And eventually all the things that lead to the birth of Jesus Christ! There was absolute order. God chose a man to carry out His plan with Him. God made promises, gave power, showed signs and spoke to each man as He lead them. God fulfilled promises and showed His love over and over to His people. God was steadfast until the completion of the plan. He was and is still today a routine God. He is the same today as He was yesterday and will be forevermore.

What about the stories in the bible where God did something that was out of the ordinary? Something that was not expected happened often in the bible. Remember the burning bush that Moses saw, the sea that lifted up and parted for Moses and the Israelite people, when Abraham was tested with his son Isaac, just before the whale that suddenly swallowed up Jonah, the many fish that were caught in the nets of the fishermen, the feeding of all those people with nothing more than a few fish and a piece of bread and the spur of the moment healings that Jesus made. What about the time Jesus looked up in the tree, saw Zacchaeus and invited himself over for dinner. Now that is spur of the moment! Who'd have thought, it's considered rude in America today to invite yourself over to someone elses house let alone with no notice! And that storm around the disciples boat when Peter walked on water. The list could go on and on. In these stories, God surely had order to allowing these things to happen, but I don't believe that it was delivered very orderely in the eyes of the men on the recieving side! God was doing things mundanely. And, God did not wait for an empty spot to take action! Somehow, God maintains order even when He does spur of the moment kinds of things. He doesn't let things get so routine that it becomes, robotic, mundane and boring. Maybe we allow our life to seem empty, but Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly (John 10:10). [God planned for Jesus to come because He knew we'd need a saviour (Luke 2:11 and John 4:42)].

How can we maintain a good orderly routine AND be spur of the moment kinds of people? God knows that we are human and need some sort of routine and order in our lives so that our human bodies function better. I believe he wants us to have some sort of order. At the same time, I believe as followers of Jesus, God wants us to not be so stuck in our mundane routine life from day to day that we pass by the very people He allows to walk in front of us to connect with.

We should be free in our giving as we are made aware of all the needs around us. We should feel free to dance and to giggle out loud. We should not feel stuck inside our homes but feel free to travel about and see God's great creations in His world. Husbands should pick up fresh flowers and little chocolates for their wife when they are at the supermarket...ha! ;0) Wives should leap into their husbands arms welcoming him home from work. We should pick up a piece of paper and draw or color even if we aren't that good at art. Sing out loud like no one is listening. We should jump up and go to the dirty and rough parts of our city and see what we can do to make it better.

And...we maybe should even invite ourselves over to other peoples houses! Chances are they want us to come over anyways as they are often lonely in their own mundane routine and need your help getting out of it!