Are Your Habits Keeping You Rooted or Letting You Drift?

I’m the last guy who should be writing about habits and consistency.

To be honest, the last few weeks have passed in a bit of a blur. I’ve felt more like I’m drifting from one thing to the next: from work trips to family get-togethers, from soccer practices to Costco to buy a new set of tires. The dryer gave out, I replaced a staff accountant, and an audit is right around the corner.

A few days ago, I was in the garage trying to lift a heavy cooler into overhead storage. Of course, I didn’t bother to move my car first. With a busy schedule like mine, how could I spare the time?

I ended up dropping the entire cooler onto my windshield.

In that moment, staring at the shattered glass, I felt completely inadequate. I had to walk away, leaving my wife to tell the kids that Daddy needed a little time to himself. It was the peak of a season where I’ve felt like I’m just along for the ride, doing my best to keep up.

When Life Takes the Reins

In times like that, when you’re pulled from one thing to the next, that sense of inadequacy will eventually call you out. But it’s also when Psalm 1 speaks loudest.

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The Psalmist contrasts two very different ways of living. There’s the way of the wicked, who are described as being like “chaff that the wind blows away.” Then, there is the way of the righteous—the one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord.” That person is described as a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.

When I dropped that cooler, my immediate reaction was one of self-criticism. I felt useless in that moment. Inadequacy was all I saw. Was this what I had to show for my hard work? Where was the fruit?

Psalm 1, though, doesn’t say the tree is always flourishing. Rather, the tree yields fruit in season.

Sometimes, we don’t bear fruit. The season is dormant, or life is overwhelming, or we drop a cooler on our car. Yet, even when the fruit isn’t visible, that doesn’t mean our leaf has withered. As we head into fall and see dying leaves dropping from branches everywhere we look, we’ll soon get a daily reminder of what we are called not to be. Even when we are not producing fruit, the blessed one remains in Christ and meditates on his Word.

An Opportunity for Realignment

Author and pastor Timothy Keller once said: “The chaff is connected to nothing. The tree is connected to something itself, beside itself.” He noted that a tree drawing from its roots on streams of water is the exact image for what it means to meditate. It’s about a daily, intentional connection.

I had a college professor who once said that every morning, he would ask Jesus what socks he should wear. It wasn’t because the socks mattered. Rather, this act was a habitual way of reaffirming that Christ should be at the center of every decision; even a decision as small as choosing what socks to wear. He chose to start each day by actively aligning himself with Christ.

In the context of Psalm 1, it was a habit of sending roots down into the water. Through habit, we can build a foundation of intentional connection. By involving Christ in the smallest things, we learn to naturally turn to Him in the big ones.

Blessed is the One

Feelings of inadequacy, like what I experienced this week, will come. Windshields will break. The question is: when those times come, where will you go in response? Where have you trained your roots to draw from? Are you creating habits now so that Christ shapes your response?

When our daily rhythms intentionally entwine Jesus into our lives, even the most frustrating moments lose their sting. We align ourselves with what is eternal, anchoring ourselves amidst the drift.

Be mindful and intentional about your habits this week. Intentionally root yourself in Him, so He shapes your responses, even when life hits.

In that, you will find blessing.