Same ole, same ole—I imagine we all feel that way at times. When someone asks how you’re doing or how’s life treating you, your respond, “Same ole, same ole”. Routine can turn into a rut, which some say is just a grave with the ends knocked out. Get up, take a shower, dress, eat breakfast, go to your job, do your work, go home, eat supper, watch a little TV, go to bed, then do it all again when you wake up. Even our devotions can get stuck in a rut—read Bible, pray a little, and repeat your request—all the while trying to keep our mind from wandering or going to sleep—Amen and off to work. Day after day you gain no fresh insight or experience any emotional inspiration. Life has slipped into same ole, same ole.
Without routine, life would plunge into chaos. Routines provide structure and order. They instill habits—some good and some bad. Arriving late to work or appointments can quickly develop into a bad habit. If we don’t recognize this and change, it establishes as a normal routine we automatically do. On the other hand, it’s unnecessary for me to write in a Day-Timer, put on your clothes and brush your teeth in the morning. That has become an automatic routine. When I get up, I don’t even think about it. BUT, beware routines can also drag you down into a rut. Doing the same tasks day after day becomes a place of safety where everything is predictable. We feel comfortable. However, our unvarying repetitive activities lead to apathy.
The answer for getting out of a rut—change and do something different. But we don’t like that word because change involves unpredictability, venturing into unfamiliar places. Believers can fall into the trap of spiritual comfort zones that avoid any spiritual anxiety or conflict. Christians become neutral never taking a stand over issues. Safe comfort zones can lead to the sin of omission. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17).
So, how do you get out of your daily and spiritual ruts? First, you must recognize that you are in a rut then acknowledge it to yourself and to God. Determine which routines are dragging you into a rut and that are changeable. Most important, resolve you want to change even though it leads you into the unknown and unpredictable situations. Certain routines should remain unchanged. When pray seems to be a vain exercise, we don’t stop praying. Instead, we alter the method of how we pray such as stand rather than sit or kneel, walk when you pray. Repeated methods create ruts.
Daniel gave us an example of God’s faithfulness when entering the unpredictable. His unknown came as a result of his routine but the world around him changed. Daniel knew King Darius had signed a decree forbidding people to pray to any god but him. but when Daniel knew that the document was signed he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously (Dan 6:10). Daniel continued his daily routine of praying and it brought him into a perilous situation—the lion’s den. But God sent His angel and closed the lions’ mouths; the lions did no harm to Daniel. Our unknowns are safe because God will be with us regardless of whether we changed or the world around us.
Cry out to the Lord. Be honest with Him about your heart. I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out (Proverbs 30:1). You may think your rut is too deep. But if God rescued us from the deepest pit of sin when we were unbelievers, then how much more can He pull us out of our rut as believers in Christ (note Rom. 8:32)? It appears Timothy was in a rut. Paul tells him, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God (2 Tim 1:6 NIV). Fan the ash off your smoldering embers and let the Holy Spirit renew the flame and lead you into new paths.
Sustaining Word for the Week: “One of the wonders of God’s love for us is that it survives our spiritual dry times.” (Paul Maxwell)