What is consistency?
That is a great question. Consistency is a state of being, the way something such as a liquid feels or in action, how often an action, mindset or feeling is maintained. Or as Google put it: unchanging in nature, standard, or effect over time. If we want to loose weight, we decide to change our diet and to set more time aside to go to the gym or workout at home. If we start the first week meal prepping and having thirty minutes dedicated to sweating our tails off and doing push-ups until our arms are sore, then we will surely see results! If week two comes along and we stop meal prepping and only allot five minutes to working out then surely our results will take longer to see and we will more times than not, regress and eventually stop altogether. What is the problem, consistency.
The moment we start something with great joy, excitement and expectation we execute until the desired result shows itself. Then as we get comfortable with the abilities we have within ourselves we start to slack on the thing. For some people this is not that great of an issue, it comes and it goes very rarely. But if you are anything like me, then this back and forth with executing a dream or goal happens more than I would like to admit. So what is the solution? What is the practical application for solving this issue of consistency that seems to be innately apart of my chemical make up?
The solution is similar to the scripture mentioned in the last post, to "seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness..." (Matt. 6:33) and to add to that, the scripture I have been meditating on, is "Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). If we sit down with ourselves and look at the past few days or weeks and how things may or may not have gone as we would have liked, there are two questions that we should ask:
1. Did I seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness before I set out to do this?
- What does it mean to seek the kingdom of God and how do I seek His righteousness?
2. Did I seek the Lord with my whole heart before I set out to do this?
- How do I seek the Lord with my whole heart?
After asking these questions and reading these verses, you may find yourself asking the sub questions. If that is where you find yourself, then welcome to the club! You my dear are not alone. I had to ask myself those questions as well. If I am being honest, I am still seeking the answer to the second sub question. It is cute and fun to quote scripture and to use it as a caption on an Instagram photo or as a Facebook status but it is freeing and liberating to know what that scripture actually means and how to apply it to your everyday life. My first suggestion would be to ask the Lord to give you understanding of those scriptures then to show you how to apply them in your day-to-day life.
My answer to the first sub question: What does it mean to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? is this; when it comes to seeking the Kingdom of God it is important to know what His kingdom is. His Kingdom as I have come to know it, is the body of Christ and His will for our lives. If we seek those things, community with others and what He wills for us then we will find everything else. When it comes to seeking His righteousness it is important to know what righteousness is, to be righteous is to be in right standing with God. So we can read the second command of Matthew 6:33 as, "seek Jesus' right standing with God and all these things may be added unto you". If we seek to be in right standing with God by looking at how Jesus was in right standing with God, then we will be that much closer to having "...all these things added..." unto us.
The answer to the second sub question is one I am still trying to figure out as it defines my current place with the Lord. I am learning what it truly means to seek Him with my whole heart. What I have found thus far, is that seeking requires more doing and less saying. So I will say a way I plan to seek Him then actively seek in that way. After I have sought (usually by the day's end) I choose to debrief that experience either in my journal with the Lord or with a friend.
Being consistent requires more doing and less saying. This is not as easy as I would like it be but the fact remains, all things worth having require work. My relationship with the Father requires work, it may not feel good but in the end I trust it will be worth it.My goal for us this week is to fin something small to be consistent over. Make it a daily objective and be honest when you do not follow through.
I will leave us with a prayer,
Lord, I thank you for Your goodness and for Your faithfulness to me. I thank You for the ways You are waiting for me to be more consistent with You. I ask that You would let Your spirit fall on me as I am learning how to seek You. As I are learning how to be more consistent with my work and with my goals, let me not forget how to be consistent with You! May I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness that all other things may be added unto me. I pray my motivation would not be for the other things to be added but that I would be motivated to see more of You and Your kingdom. Keep me in my sleep and as I go throughout my day.
I pray all of these things in Jesus' name,
Amen