It is time to break the routine!

When I was a maintenance supervisor for several apartment complexes, I would often tell my maintenance staff that success is found in the prep. If they were painting an apartment I would tell them to take their time preparing all the walls and ceilings. They were to remove all switch and outlet plates, patch all holes, remove all bathroom fixtures attached to the walls, and drop all light fixtures from the ceiling. They were told to tape any kitchen cabinet edges that might get paint on them, and were instructed to always use drop cloths to prevent paint from getting on the floors. I always had a check list of preparations for them to go over before starting any job, whether it was painting, plumbing, electrical or carpentry. I am a person who likes to be prepared, and I have discovered that success is found in the preparations. The better the prep, the better success you will have. The constant repetition of going through these check lists had become second nature to them. It was now part of their daily routines and so success was frequent.

Daily routines are a good thing. Daily routines help me accomplish a lot in any one given day, and they prevent me from forgetting something I need to do. Built into my daily routine are things like time spent in prayer and God’s Word, as well as time spent with my wife and children. Daily Routines help prioritize our schedules and help us focus on what’s important in any given day. They help us become successful in our God given tasks. I have learned however, that sometimes problems arise that no check list could have prepared for, and no daily routine could have prevented.

A healthy diet and exercise routine will help you live a long life. It will also provide you with the energy level that will help you accomplish a lot in any one given day. This kind of daily routine helps our effectiveness and efficiency levels at home, work, school, or ministry. A healthy lifestyle, as a part of your daily routine, will help you travel far on the journey that God has called you to travel, but may not however, always prevent you from becoming sick. When sickness occurs, a break in routine may be needed. In this case, doctors, medications, or surgery may need consideration.

Perhaps your tithes and offerings have become part of your daily or weekly routine. That is to say, you know exactly how much every week or month you give in the offering basket when it comes by. This routine of giving will no doubt bring blessing upon your life. The scriptures are clear about how God will provide for those who faithfully tithe and cheerfully give in the offerings. However, though you may be faithful in your tithes, this doesn’t always prevent unexpected financial needs from arising in your life or in others around you. When this happens, perhaps it is a time to break the routine that you have set for yourself and increase the tithe or the offering that you typically have given.

In my early thirties I became the lead pastor of a small church in a small town. The church had suffered a lot of financial difficulties and was on the verge of closing its doors. They had over $30,000 worth of debt which included back taxes, and late mortgage payments. I agreed to be their bi-vocational pastor, and on the Monday after my first Sunday on the job, I received a call from one of the board members while I was at work. He informed me that the underground oil tank that we had for the heating system began leaking. In addition to that, one of our neighbors called the EPA on us, and we were being fined. Within my first week on the job we had to undergo a maintenance project that doubled our debt. Prior to me coming, they had stopped all their missions giving in order to pay off the debts that were owed. This was, of course, the wrong way of breaking routine. There were several problems with this solution. First, the money coming in was not enough to pay the debt in the first place, and secondly, and more importantly, it’s not scriptural. The tithe is the first fruits of what God has provided, not the left over.

So, we made a decision to resume the routine of missions giving that had been established prior to my coming, and began giving additional funds to other Christian ministries within our community. We decided to give offerings to a ministry that helped un-wed teenage mothers who had nowhere else to go, as well as a youth ministry based in our own community. This was a break from the norm, a break from the routine. Conventional wisdom would never have recommended an organization in the situation that we were in to do what we had done. This break from routine however, guided by the Holy Spirit, had opened the flood gates of heaven. Within one year, all that initial debt was paid off. One miracle check after another kept coming in until it was all paid.

Perhaps the daily routine of your prayer life and devotions have brought you to a certain level of intimacy and maturity in Christ. Perhaps this daily routine has helped you develop a certain level of faith, and that faith has brought you through some trying times in life, but today you are facing a situation that’s bigger and more challenging than anything you have ever faced. Perhaps you find yourself in need of a breakthrough, and your daily routine isn’t providing the faith level you need to overcome. I would encourage you to try changing your routine. Try waking up earlier in the morning so that you can pray a little longer than normal. I would also encourage you to consider adding a fast to your prayer life, and setting aside more time to read, and be encouraged by the scriptures.

I believe it is time to break the routine in our churches as well. Our church culture is blessed with spiritual routines that have brought health and stability to congregations and communities. It has also, however created a spiritual complacency that has caused a dependence on the gifts, talents, and abilities of its people rather than on the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is moving freely in our churches the Supernatural Power of God is clearly evident. I believe we have mistaken church health to simply mean a lack of problems. Good leaders have learned to administrate their way to minimal problems, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a truly healthy church is a church that sees the Supernatural Power of God at work on a regular basis. It is a church that sees the lost saved, the sick healed, and the captive set free. It is a body of believers that won’t settle for anything less than what they see taking place in the book of Acts among the first believers.

If you desire to get past the struggles and hardships that have perhaps held you back, or if you desire to move past the complacency that has settled into your life or church.

If you desire to reach new levels of life, faith, and ministry then perhaps it’s time to break the routine.