Healthy life rhythms are vital for healthy living! In all areas of life, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual, establishing and maintaining healthy, consistent rhythms promotes healthy growth and living.
A healthy circadian sleep pattern is critical to maintain a healthy mind and body. For many years I struggled to stay awake while driving or in the middle of the afternoon while I was in a meeting or counseling session as a Pastor. I tried increasing caffein, going to bed earlier, taking a mid-afternoon power nap, but nothing really made that much difference. I shared with my doctor what was going on and he set up a sleep study that revealed I was waking up regularly through the night due to a stop in breathing (13 times a minute I think). A Cpap sleep machine was prescribed and before long I was no longer getting sleepy when driving or in those mid afternoon meetings. Amazing!
As you think about life you can observe normative rhythms in many areas of human, animal and plant life. Besides the circadian rhythm of sleep and awakeness there are healthy digestive, cardio, menstrual , reproductive, and work patterns and rhythms. My mother and father have each worn a heart monitor in the past month to record their cardio rhythm. My mother is still being monitored, but my father who has struggled with afib and heart flutter for the past several years is scheduled to receive a pacemaker next week. Following a bi-lateral lung transplant 2013 he has experienced several episodes of heart afib, arrhythmia and flutter. Besides causing him to feel light headed, week and tired, left untreated this could cause serious and permanent heart damage.
As we live life daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly we see God’s natural rhythms for our world and universe in living color. We are reminded of the daily, twenty four hours of the earth rotating on its axis by the rising and setting of the sun. We are reminded of the orbit of the moon around the earth each night as we view the moon, full, half, quarter as it peaks through the clouds or reflects off a lake.
We observe the tilting of the earth on its axis with changing of the seasons from winter to spring to summer to fall and the sun rising earlier then later and the same with it’s setting. The rising and falling of temperatures produce seasons of planting, growth, harvest and rest. The completion of another 365 days (366 every fourth year), a year on the calendar as the earth completes its orbit around the sun.
God has establish natural, physical, and spiritual rhythms that lead to health and growth, peace and well-being, rest and work. I have been studying and learning to observe a rhythm that our Creator established from the very beginning of time called, Sabbath. He worked, created for six days and then…He rested, stopped creating, ceased working. He commanded that his creation observe a weekly Sabbath rest after six days of working, creating, and achieving. This wasn’t a good idea, a suggestion, a consideration to get around to if you have time. No, it was established as the fourth of 10 non-negotiable commands for living, recorded in Exodus 20:1-17 and repeated in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. It is one of the two positive commands, the other being to “honor your father and mother” (Ex. 20:12 ; Dt. 5:16) and one of two commands that are elaborated on, the other being the command to not make any idol (Ex. 20:4-6; Dt. 5:8-10). This article does not lend itself to a fuller discussion of the Sabbath, but as you have time read these two records of the ten commandments side by side. I think you will see some amazing likeness and uniqueness revealing how important this rhythm is to our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical well-being. I am finding I have more energy, focus, joy and endurance the other six days a week when I take a day of Sabbath to rest, renew, re-energize and refocus, spending uninterrupted, unhurried, unscheduled time with the Father, in His word, in prayer on the seventh, sabbath day. Dr. Bryant Wright recently preached an excellent message on Sabbath during The Beginnings series from Genesis (put in link to podcast). I would encourage you to listen to this message if you missed it.
As I read Psalm 119 a daily rhythm of praise and worship jumped off the page. “Seven times a day, I praise you for your righteous rules” (119:164). Why seven? Why not 1, 2, 3, 4…10? There is something special, significant about the number seven in God’s order of things. He created the world, earth and sky, land and sea, animal and plant, man and woman and rested in seven days. The land was to be given a rest every seven years. The number seven is believed to be a divine number symbolizing completeness. Could it be that observing seven times of praise a day reminds us of God’s completeness, fullness, adequacy and points us to the seventh day when we cease normal work activities to focus our praise and worship towards our Creator and Savior for a full twenty four hours? Here is a possible daily spiritual rhythm to try for the next seven days.
Seven Spiritual Rhythms in a Day
- Waking-Begin the day giving God thanks for specific blessings that come to mind as you are in the waking moments of the day. Consider writing a sentence or two in a journal.
- Breakfast-Praise God as your Provider and Sustainer, claiming his promises to meet your needs, to protect you, to guide you through the day.
- Morning Break-Pause 5 minutes to praise God for one thing he has revealed to you about Himself so far this morning.
- Lunch-Pray not only for your lunch, but praise him for provision and people who made or served you lunch.
- Afternoon Break- Pause 5 minutes to praise God for something special He has allowed you to experience through your day with him or with other people.
- Dinner-Pray for your meal, thanking your Father for being Faithful through the entire day, giving specific thanksgiving and praise around the table with your family if possible or with a friend if you are not married.
- Bed Time-Reflect on the day and complete a G.L.A.D. Journal:
- Gratitude-what are you thankful for as you reflect on the day?
- Learned-what is something new, interesting, challenging that you learned today about someone special to you, a work associate, a team mate?
- Achieved-what did God enable you to achieve, complete today at home, in relationships, through work?
- Delight-what brought delight to your heart and soul today? What lifted your spirit, put a smile on your face?
Take a few minutes on Sunday and block out as much as possible these seven times for each of the days in your week. Keep it simple. Don’t try to add hours to your schedule for these seven times, just moments to praise. Really! Five minutes, seven times a day, equals 35 minutes. I’m curious how giving these 35 minutes to the Lord to simply praise, acknowledge Him, His love and works will impact the remaining 1405 minutes in your day? I wander how the 4 hours devoted to praise and worship outside of Sunday worship, might impact the other 164 hours of sleep, work, family and friend time in your week and how this might culminate and overflow during the hour you gather for corporate worship in your church?
Don’t think of this as a legalistic daily schedule to follow no matter what is happening, but more of a free flowing rhythm to live towards, realizing there will be days you get up late, skip breakfast, don’t have time for a break, eat lunch on the run, get home late for supper and don’t get to bed on time. Don’t sweat it if you miss one or two or five of the seven specific times to pause and praise. Miss one? Just jump back into the Rhythm the next natural time your schedule allows to pause to praise your Savior and Friend, Jesus. I would love to hear from you after a week or two. What have you experienced? What have you noticed? What have you seen God do that only He could have done? I would love to learn from you, rejoice with you, and lift heart and soul together to our wonderful Creator and Savior. Read Psalm 119:161-168 in the Message below and let this shape your thoughts for the coming seven days:
I've been slandered unmercifully by the politicians, but my awe at your words keeps me stable. I'm ecstatic over what you say, like one who strikes it rich. I hate lies - can't stand them! - but I love what you have revealed. Seven times each day I stop and shout praises for the way you keep everything running right. For those who love what you reveal, everything fits - no stumbling around in the dark for them. I wait expectantly for your salvation; God, I do what you tell me. My soul guards and keeps all your instructions - oh, how much I love them! I follow your directions, abide by your counsel; my life's an open book before you. Psalm 119:161-168, MESSAGE
RESTORING HOPE 