You may have read by now that creating a rhythm of life around the way of Jesus is an invitation to make your burdens light and allow you to enjoy life with Him.
Yet even before you start, you might dismiss the idea of forming new patterns for your spiritual life because you don’t want to be ritualistic. Perhaps some rhythms feel repetitive or restrictive, a task to check off before you can move on to the rest of your day.
Yes, rhythms can be repetitive, but they’re not merely outward actions to perform. They give you practical ways to love God so that He can satisfy your soul.
The whole heart of God is to dwell with you, His own beloved. To approach rhythms without falling into mere task completion, show up for a relationship with the Heavenly Father. He wants to restore the relationship and daily restore you to Himself.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14, ESV).
To love is to feel a deep affection for God.
When you love someone, it will be reflected within your person and your actions. The person you love is usually on your mind, you want to spend time with them, and you want to love them through acts of service. (Gifts are good too!)
In the same way, a rhythm of life will flow when it is through a place of love. Start this by setting your affections upon Him.
“Because you hold fast to Me in love, I will deliver you; I will protect you, because you know My Name” (Psalm 91:14, ESV).
When God has your heart and attention, He pours Himself out on you and in your life! And when times are tough, you have your rhythms with Him to lean back on and help see you through.
In the book of Zechariah, God explains that performing rituals had become a cover for hardened hearts, which made them fruitless. His people had refused to love, which made their hearts “diamond-hard.” Without love for God and others, emptiness occurred in both His people’s spirits and their land. “The pleasant land was made desolate” (Zechariah 7:14b, ESV).
But when you love, God can dwell in you so your soul can feast on His presence. And God desires this.
When His people began to rebuild their once-desolate relationship and restore His dwelling place among them, they asked if they should still follow some ritual fasts. There were four fasts they had instituted for themselves to mourn their losses.
God responded that as they loved, He would turn these fasts into “seasons of joy and gladness and cheerfulness” (Zechariah 8:19b).
When your rhythms are infused with love for God, He turns them into pleasant seasons with Him.
They are no longer empty tasks but transform your spirit into a place of healthy satisfaction with His presence. God’s presence with you then becomes a witness so that other people who see will want to experience the same.
So, if you are feeling empty and concerned that your rhythm of life will, too, be assured that when you love Him – with your heart, your soul, your mind, and strength, and love your neighbor - God will fill these rhythms into satisfying seasons of joy, and gladness, and cheerfulness to feast on His presence.
May these rhythms be times of loving Him with everything within you.
Let Love Drive Your Rhythms
Thank you Julie!
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