Glorifying God in the Routines
Kiss, hug, monkey blanket, book, pray. That's the summation of my preschool-age son's bedtime routine. His simple bedtime routine must mean the world to him because if I miss a beat or shake up the order, he lets me know that the universe is falling apart. If you want accountability for keeping a disciplined routine, just let preschoolers know of your intentions, and they will tirelessly remind you to stay the course.
Order and predictability go a long way to reassure young children that their world is stable. Routines work the same way in reassuring us big kids, too. Consider how disconcerting your morning would be if the coffeemaker suddenly sputtered sparks onto the countertop and broke.
When Life Seems Boring
Although we can all appreciate the stability that routines bring (Thank you, God, for causing the sun to rise this morning), a life of "all things ordinary" may sound, well . . . boring. We live in the mundane, and life-altering, dramatic moments are, by definition, extraordinary. Whatever your "normal" is, I think we can all agree that that's where we live. Even so, we long for significant work, unique callings, and uncommon opportunities.
It's tempting to view everyday life as a monotonous cycle of making your bed only to lie in it again. Our perspective on the everyday business of our lives is important because when we forget about God's activity in the world, we become functionally hopeless. What's the point of anything if "all is vanity"? Often our view of the ordinary is ruled by the "have-to's": I have to take out the trash; I have to go to work; I have to change another diaper; and so on. We hear Paul's instruction of "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31) and we wonder how that squares with the "have-to's" of our everyday lives. Grace sheds light on our mundane. Grace can transform the "have-to's" into "get-to's" as we live for His glory.
Here are just three of the ways the grace of God governs the areas of our lives that seem ordinary and unimportant:
1. We get to live outside of the garden. Live. We get to live. Let your heart soar with thankfulness as you consider that God continues to give us life even though we have all sinned against His holiness. Let your mind be blown by the reality that Jesus is currently, intentionally holding our very lives together by the word of His power. The gracious gift of life in spite of our sin is overwhelming. Surely this mercy is cause for unceasing praise to our Creator. Job teaches us that whatever condition our lives are in, God is to be praised. As recipients of such astonishing grace, far be it from us to lament that life is boring. Instead, let us spill over with praise to the Author of Life with our every breath.
2. We get to live forever in Christ. Each of us is just a breath away from meeting the Lord face-to-face. Because of Jesus' atoning death on the cross, we will behold our God and live, and we will live forever in His presence where there is fullness of joy. In the meantime, we are comforted by the indwelling Holy Spirit and we can have fellowship with God even now. God uses ordinary means to conform us to the image of His beloved Son. This is just one way the gospel of grace gives new meaning to the seemingly unimportant routines.
3. We get to participate in God's cosmic plan. The penal substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, His resurrection from the dead, and His subsequent exaltation above every name change how we view our ordinary lives because, indeed, they change everything. In order to experience joy in the work that God has for us, we must seek to understand the mystery of God's will that He purposes "to unite all things in [Christ]" (Eph. 1:9– 10). While we're tempted to fret over arranging our schedules perfectly, Jesus is infallibly putting the cosmos back in order. This big-picture theology of God's cosmic plan sees through the morning commute and the dishes piled up in the sink to scan the horizon of the new heavens and the new earth. What remarkable grace we've been given to participate in God's plan to reconcile all things to Himself (1 Cor. 15:27–28).
Stamp Eternity on Our Eyeballs
An eternal perspective is something you carry around in your heart. With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know the hope to which God has called you. Look through this lens of eternity when you're tempted to walk by sight. Watch how the grace of God transforms the way you see another business trip, another potty training accident, another afternoon in gridlock traffic, another meeting, another bill, or another load of laundry. Enduring joy can be had in the ordinary stuff of life today because everything you've been given was ordained by Jesus, exists for Jesus, and will testify forever in eternity as a tribute to His glorious grace.
