March #jammed: Grace Revealed.

Day 60: Grace in our “everyday.”

“When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, ‘You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.'” Joshua 13:1

Routine is my jam. Happy am I, when the new calendar is up, the fall activity list is full, the morning is organized and the after-school schedule kicks into high gear. But something happens to me at Christmastime. I add and add and add Christmastime to the calendar in an anticipatory rush that increases with each passing year.

There is nothing more soothing than a break from our own action. For the two weeks my daughters are off school for Winter Break, Jesus is our everything. Our reason to celebrate, smile, and break away from normalcy. And in that two weeks, He becomes our normalcy, which is better than anything we cram onto our calendar.

Today’s verse in Joshua is the preface to more distribution of the land the Israelites wandered for 40 years to get to. There is still a little conquering left to do, and specific instructions to follow. What I find fascinating about this section of Scripture are the specific borders God gave to each tribe’s allotment of land. It’s boring to read unless we stop to wonder why He wrote it down. People are people, and even God’s people would have fought over that land.  God knew the plans He had in store for their lives, as He does ours.

The return to routine post-Christmas is a struggle of endurance and discipline. We’re not excited about homework, it’s dark outside whenever we’re home, and the winter is …winter.

After the twinkle lights come down and the gifts are unwrapped…the carols sung and the memories made, we’re left a little changed. Suddenly, the routine we built doesn’t seem so important …because we’ve been reminded that it’s not.

Sometimes, my task-driven, perfectionist heart needs to be told to shut up. I need to be checked for yelling at my kids because we’re right on time for school instead of five minutes early …and adjust my calendar squares to make room for the friends I hold so dear and the dinner table I love to share with my family.

Jesus is routine. Return to Him.

“Hurry down from religion. Hurry down from traditions. Quit trying to pick yourself up. Only my grace can save you. Come down, and come now.” Judah Smith, Jesus Is.

Father, Praise You for providing specific instructions for us in Your Word. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, who allows us to see beyond ink on Your pages. Forgive us for trying to read Your Word with our capacity to reason, and bless us to see Scripture come alive from Your point of view. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What routine do you need to break from? Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Routines,

Megs

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