Driving the exact same route to work every day. Using a preferred coffee mug. Going year after year to the same place for summer holidays. Putting on our shoes or clothes in a particular order. Scanning our emails first thing in the morning.
We all have preferred routines, activities, and schedules that we are drawn to repeat in a consistent fashion.
Routines can provide us a sense of structure, stability, and accomplishment.
Routines have a rhythm and pattern that can provide an illusion of comfort, order, safety and reassurance.
This is because routines can be effective and life giving.
Such as me starting each day with a quiet devotional time. Or when I savor that first cup of freshly brewed coffee upon waking. Going for a daily walk on the wooded trails around our home. Or ensuring I have time time to work on my studies and writing by scheduling it in before lunch.
These type of routines have positive aspects such as keeping me rooted in God’s Word, helping me to discern His will, fortifying me spiritually, mentally and physically, helping me to acquire discipline, and helping me to accomplish desired tasks or goals within a day.
Examples of such routines and their benefits are demonstrated throughout Scriptures. Where Daniel was so dedicated to a routine of praying three times a day, that he was able to hold onto his faith, even when he was threatened with being killed (Daniel 6:10). Or when David chose to pray every morning so he could discern God’s will (Psalm 5:3; 143:8). And how when, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).
But while life-giving routines are of great value, they can become harmful when we become too intense or inflexible or obsessive around them, relying on the routines themselves as being essential for us to feel secure and fulfilled.
For when we begin to squeeze our routines too tightly their value begins to decrease. We start to loose a flexibility. And find ourselves dependent upon, or needing the routines to feel in control and achieve productivity, loosing touch with a fruitful way of doing life.
For as Aristotle once wrote, “Any strength gone too far runs amok.”
Whenever we start to perceive our routines as being absolutely essential for us to have a happy and productive day, things have begun to run amok. For now, we are being shifted away from a healthy use of rhythms, into a preoccupation on following the routines.
Whenever the routines themselves have become essential to our sense of wellbeing, we will be alerted by how we respond when they are disrupted or interrupted.
We will now become distressed when someone has the nerve to use our coffee mug. We are 
furious when we are forced to take a detour that prevents us from taking our regular drive to work. We become tense when we cannot review or scan our emails.
Whenever we experience such vexation at our routines being interrupted it is warning that we have begun to turn to the routines themselves as a primary source of our comfort and control.
Routines cannot become the primary focus. Because ultimately, our comfort and security can only be found when we trust God and His plans for our lives.
So while routines help us build a healthy symmetry and pattern to our days, we must remember to hold them loosely. Being flexible and open to detours, allows us to embrace new experiences, see new places, learn alternative approaches, and consider life from different perspectives.
And when we can embrace the unexpected, rather than reject it, we grow in our capacity to trust in the beauty of God’s providence, plans and provision.
Photo Credits: John-Mark Kuznietsov, Amy Belazquez, Jamie Street, from Unsplash
Five Minute Friday Prompt: Routine
Good take on routine, I struggle with good routine.
Leslie, I agree, sometimes it can be a struggle to create and hold onto good rhythms around routines.
I appreciate this post about the positive and negative aspects of routine. I wrote about my autistic son, for whom routines are very important — and it’s a challenge as a parent to know when to stretch his boundaries in hopes of increasing his flexibility, and when to allow him to pursue his routine because of the comfort it provides. So when I liken that to what you’ve said, I see how trust is a big part of his growth process as well. I am grateful that God always knows when we’re ready for more change and challenge and provides his strength and his presence to face that. Thanks for writing; I appreciate what you’ve said here.
Jeannie, thank you so much for joining me at The Stones Call and for having read the post about the good and worrisome aspects of routines. You have an unique perspective and challenge around routines as you raise your son. Having raised three sons I am able to sense a bit of what you are dealing with, especially when we have children who thrive and seem to do best when there is structure and routines. And my three sons, who were very close in age, always seemed to do better when we followed a familiar, daily routine. And when they did well, I managed better as a mother too! As a teacher and counsellor and principal within the school setting, I found there was always such a wide range of need and capacity in terms of routines. Some staff members and students thrived best when there was a strict schedule and routines, while others thrived better in an atmosphere or culture where things tended to be more spontaneous and unpredictable. I maintain that a balance is probably a good place to land – where there are structures and routines in place so we are able to focus, the days flow more smoothly, and we are more like to accomplish our goals throughout our days. But having said that, because we all face interruptions and providential detours every day, I think we need to have enough flexibility and trust be able to adapt when routines are changed. We have to rest in God’s provision and protection when things go sidewise, as they so often do. If we can manage to do this – then we are likely to experience less stress and frustration when we do face detours and changes to our routines. And because we will likely be quicker to adapt, we will be more able to positively respond to God’s providential plans and challenges. How blessed is your son to have you as his mother- you so evidently care about him, and are so caring and thoughtful about how you want to raise him, and the behaviours and tools you want to teach and to instil in him.Praying for you and your son. Blessings Jeannie!
Such a wise and eye opening perspective. My hubs has told me that over the years my “routines” become more important and less flexible. Thanks for the reminder that while good ones are useful, they should not rule us, instead, be a tool
Hi Christa! Thanks for your comments and encouragement. You make a good observation about how over time we can gradually slip into a behaviour, like rigidity around routines, without being aware. And then when we notice the pattern or behaviour, because something or someone has called our attention to it, we see that what was once good and working for us, has now slipped into something too rigid and fixed. But the good thing is, that we can adjust and self-correct and move back to being in place where routines can guide us, but no longer rule us.