I’m listening to music as a write this. It’s a groovy track by Peter Ibbetson called “Wednesday.” Like most songs it’s got momentum to it, with an occasional break to let the listener catch their breath. It starts sparse, building a backbone, and adds instruments, takes them away, and then brings them all back at once as it closes in on the end, only to strip them away again as it pulls into the finish.

It has a pulse, a rhythm.

If life is an music album habits are the notes, routines are the measures, rhythms are the phrases, and the season is the song.1 The rhythms you build create contrast in your life so you can reflect and plan and realign. Right, because we are talking about staying aligned with the Kingdom of God.

While Habits and Routines tend to focus on daily sorts of activities, Rhythms have a longer time frame. For the most part those time frames are weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. I’m sure there are some exceptions out there. But, this is just an introduction so we’re going to go with those four. They may not exactly work for you – in fact, I have some eight week rhythms – so you’ll have to figure out what rhythms make sense in your season and temperament and all of that.

Unsurprisingly, I have some suggestions for rhythms that you can build into your life. Again, suggestions. I don’t want to dictate what you must or need to do. But I will say this, intentionally creating rhythms like these will help you stay in alignment with the Kingdom of God.

Alright, I’ve delayed getting to the point. Here are my suggestions:

Weekly Rhythms

There are two rhythms that I’d suggest you include in your week. The first is rest. We weren’t meant to live full tilt all the time. Working 7 or 8 days a week2 is unhealthy at best and disastrous at worst. It tends to create the illusion that we are our work, that our value and being is tied up in our productivity. Yeah, that’s false and reeks of the Kingdom of People. The Kingdom of God says “Your work may give you a sense of accomplishment, but relationships will remind you of your value.” Resting will help you stay in alignment with that idea. And rest means 18-24 hours.

The second might be a bit less surprising… church.

I know, I know. That’s super cliché. But it’s true! Being around other people who are trying to stay aligned with the Kingdom of God will help you stay aligned as well. You become like the people you spend the most time with.3 If you want to be like someone who is aligned with the Kingdom of God… you have to spend time with people who are aligned with the Kingdom of God.

That doesn’t mean you have to walk in a church building (although that’s a good option). That wasn’t the original meaning of “church” anyway. “Church” is any group of people who are wanting to move towards the Kingdom of God together. The point is to get together on a regular basis and be intentional about Kingdom of God things.4 How you do that isn’t as important. A mid-week-breakfast group? Cool. A every-other-Saturday-lunch group? Also cool. A monthly-dinner-thing? That’s what I’m doing in this season. Which brings us to our next rhythmic time frame…

Monthly Rhythms

Aside from a monthly community gathering (if you’re not doing a weekly gathering of some sort), I think there’s only one monthly Kingdom of God rhythm I’d suggest – a monthly get-away-from-it-all day.5 As in leave all your electronics turned off, disappear for four hours in an unannounced place, spend time talking with God kinda day.

True, you’ve got some daily routines that help you stay in conversation with God. But it’s easy to just move quickly through those things. Fifteen minutes in the morning, five at lunch, and maybe another five at night might help with micro-realignments. But sometimes we need more than that. A monthly GAFIAD to spend time with Jesus can help shed some light on things.

Don’t have time to do this month? Don’t sweat it too much, because the next time frame is quarterly…

Quarterly Rhythms

Whether you’re into the monthly GAFIAD or not, a quarterly GAFIAD is… well, man, I don’t know how to say this – you’ve gotta get away. With Jesus. Just the two of you. At least once a quarter. It’s doesn’t need to be elaborate, but it is going to take a little time. It’s an examination of where your alignment is at.

If you have a journal – review the last three months6. If you don’t have one, just start making some notes. Ask yourself these kinds of questions, and write down the answers:

  • What happened over the last three months?
  • What thoughts or ideas have come up on a regular basis?
  • Where have your emotions been at?
  • What have you been hearing from people around you?
  • What events have had an impact on you?
  • What have you been concerned or stressed about?

Then ask Jesus to show you where he’s been active, if he has anything he’d like to say about things, to give you some help with the stress7, and what he has next for you.

Also, go take a walk.

Annual Rhythms

OK, here’s the last rhythmic time frame, and it’s the annual retreat. I do mine during December, sometimes in the gap between Christmas and New Years. It just kinda feels right that it should come at the end of the year. Yours might be different. Either way, the retreat is like a slightly longer quarterly review – instead of a morning or a day the retreat is a couple of days.8

Now, it’s supposed to be mostly restful (hence the word “retreat”), but it’s also intentional. I’d suggest going through the same kinds of questions from the GAFIAD, but also talk to Jesus about what he has next for you. Is the season about to change from you9? Is there anything he’s like to work out in your life over the next year that will bring you into better alignment with his way of doing things?

Don’t try to do this all at once. Break it into several conversations with him. And in between those spend some time with your community and family. Play some games, eat some food, encourage each other10. Do stuff like that.

Make Your Own

Those, I think, are some basic rhythms for your life with Jesus. This isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s a starting point. Hopefully it sparks some ideas for what you can do. Don’t treat this stuff like a checklist either – as though doing or not doing these things is going to make you more valuable or loved or right or whatever. But doing them will put you into situations where you can be realigned with the ways of the Kingdom of God.

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

  1. That assumes some music theory knowledge. If you’re interested in learning more, the Wikipedia has what you’re looking for. ↩
  2. Some people have managed to shoehorn an eighth day in there. No, I don’t know how. ↩
  3. There’s a bunch of writing about this. Google the phrase “If you want to know what you will be like in five years, look at the five people you spend the most time with.” ↩
  4. You know, the four markers of the Kingdom: relationships, vulnerability, generosity, and serving. ↩
  5. I’m in a hyphenation kinda mood. ↩
  6. If you don’t, I totally understand. ↩
  7. Or even better, hand the stress stuff over to him. Yeah, easier said than done, I know. ↩
  8. Or more if you’re feeling crazy. ↩
  9. No, not the weather season, the life season. ↩
  10. I’m telling you, there’s nothing better than receiving encouragement. Except giving it. ↩