Northern Indiana got its first snowfall of the season the other night. Where I live, we had around 4″. Further west, about 18″. We do get our share of system snow—storms that track from west to east.
In our region, we have what they call “lake-effect snow.” This happens when the cold air is pushed over the Great Lakes (in Indiana, it’s Lake Michigan). It picks up the warmer water air and turns it into snow. Then, depending on how the wind is blowing, it takes the snow and drops it over land. How much snow you get depends on the snow bands from the wind. The longer the snow band stays in place, the more snow you will get. It’s not uncommon to get 2 to 3″ of snow in an hour if the band is heavy and the wind is consistent in how it blows.
In your walk with Christ, consistency matters. Being consistent in reading the Bible, consistent in praying daily, and consistent in how you treat others.
By being consistent in what you do, you are minimizing the risk of getting sidetracked.
Consistency can have drawbacks too. We need to be careful that we don’t just do things because that’s the way we always do them. You can be so consistent that when a roadblock is present, you get frazzled, panic, and don’t know what to do. Which reminds me of a stunt I pulled on my dad one morning.
My dad was a creature of consistency. Every morning he did the same routine at about the same time. One morning, I got up early to put my little stunt in play. In our house, you could unlock the bathroom door from outside the room if you knew how to do it. So, knowing my dad would get up, eat breakfast cereal, then shower in the master bedroom, then he would go into the hallway bathroom to shave and brush his teeth. (I never have figured out why he did that). This one morning, I locked the hallway bathroom just to see what he would do. I sat in the living room, just off the hallway. I watched for 15 minutes as my dad paced the floor, going crazy because he couldn’t get into the hallway bathroom. He saw me sitting in the living room and asked if I knew who was in the bathroom. Of course, there was no one. I told him I didn’t know of anyone being in there. Watching this man nearly go out of his mind, I couldn’t contain myself anymore. I got up and unlocked the door of the bathroom for him (something he knew how to do also) so he could finish getting ready for work. My dad, got to consistent at doing the same thing every morning, that a simple change in his routine, made him completely helpless, even to realize, that he could ave unlock the door himself, like he’s done many times before.
We need to be consistent, but we also need to be ready to take detours, when they happen.
Nothing in life will stay the same forever, so we must be willing to change with it, but never change our worship of our One True King and never change our desire to know God more.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 (KJV) But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.