Consistency

I wish I were more consistent in many things. My moods. My Bible reading habits. My prayer life. Though I’m fairly regular in monitoring and controlling these important parts of my life, I could do better. That’s probably true for all of us.

Even my friendships, which are very important to me, tend to be inconsistent. At least, they don’t last the way I wish they did. The very friends that I thought would be close forever have drifted away and found satisfaction in being busy with others. That’s partly because I live far away from them. But in this day of a multitude of communication possibilities, I wish we would stay close by talking more consistently.

My health fluctuates with each passing day, month, and year. Patterns emerge, but the pain scale varies and surprises are hiding around the corner. I never know what a day may bring.

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I decided to write a poem in my journal every day this year. Well, I’ve written lots of them. But I’m disappointed that there have been gaps. Some days the poetry just gets overlooked and the journaling is inconsistent.

But let’s take a look at one who is consistent. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 NKJ). You can’t get more consistent than that, can you? He is consistent in His holiness, His love, his mercy, His faithfulness. He may have various ways of showing these characteristics, but they never fail. They never cease.

There is a chorus that echoes the words of Lamentations 3:22. We enjoyed singing it at church recently. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

God’s creation reflects His consistency. The sun rises and sets every day. Each day contains the same number of hours and minutes. The planets continue in their orbits designed by their Maker since their creation thousands of years ago. The oceans ebb and flow according to the boundaries set by God.

I am glad that I can trust the Lord in all areas of life. His consistency shows how reliable, steady, and unfailing He is. How is His constancy, His stability, blessing you today?