Have you ever been driving and find yourself going the wrong direction. It’s easy to get used to driving certain routes that when you have to go somewhere else with a similar route, you can forget where you are going for a brief moment and miss a turn.
That happened to me this morning. Almost anywhere I go from home involves heading north on the highway. Instead of getting off at the next exit to take my international students to the high school, I continued on the highway towards work. I realized what I had done as I drove past the exit and chalked it up to an autopilot moment.
After I got them to school, I got to thinking about other autopilot moments in my life. In Praise Habit by David Crowder, I read that it takes a minimum of twenty-one days to create a habit. For example, if you were to clap your hands once every time you go though a doorway for three weeks, that action will more than likely become a habit. Some habits are good, some are bad. Some habits are harder to break than others. They don’t start overnight though.
Autopilot can be a good thing at times, but it can also be bad. If your vertical time with God is set to autopilot, you can be sure that you are doing it consistently. At the same time, autopilot in any relationship can make you miss on ramps and off ramps to better things. Autopilot can make your relationship with your spouse, friends, or God become stagnant.
I think many of us get into routines, and there is nothing wrong with that. But we need to be careful to be open to changes and opportunities. If you are like me and your habit of spending time with your Creator is inconsistent or non-existent, it might be time to commit to three weeks to kickstart the habit. Don’t be afraid of autopilot monotony because it’s easy to take the scenic route once in a while. If you think you’re stuck in an autopilot routine that seems to be going nowhere, try something different.