This is our 24-Hours Lemons Race Car: Honda CRX 1.6 VTEC with approx. 160HP, belonging to the “Real Life” men’s group who won the award for being “Most Consistent”.
When I came across this photo, I started to think about consistency and how important it is. I also noted in many ways how difficult it is to do over a long term. The obvious example that comes to mind is parenting and, in some ways, grandparenting. If we want to see the outcome we desire, we have to be consistent, (sigh) and then it doesn’t always work. Success often entails doing the simple things well and often.
So, what about our Christian walk, is consistency important? I think so for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I think that consistency in our devotional life brings opportunity. Opportunity for God to speak and ultimately for us to learn. It comes back to are we available to God, are we present? Do we provide opportunities for God to speak in the Logos or written Word of God and Rhema or spirit word. Stepping back out of the humdrum of general life, in my experience, can make a huge difference. One of the things God has challenged me in, and I am not very consistent with, is sitting silently in His presence. This I find difficult and therefore am less likely to engage. But at times I wonder if I am missing out on being blessed through my inconsistency. It is easy to tell myself I am too busy.
Secondly, consistency in engaging is important in any relationship that you want to last, let alone blossom. As I have got older, I have come to appreciate this more and more. When I was young, I changed jobs, houses and even districts a lot and maintaining relationships didn’t seem to be that important. I now know that knowing and being known by others is critical to mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. It is part of the DNA God gave us as recorded in Genesis 2:18, The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.” I come back to the adage, “let it begin with me”. If the relationship is important let me consistently take up my part in the relationship and let me “call back”.
And finally, I believe that if we are consistently doing the right thing, others will notice, and it will make an impression. That creates a good witness! Meaningful witnessing is so much more about what you do and how you do it rather than what you say. Because people are watching, they want to believe in something, they are just not sure they want to believe in what you believe. The question remains, are you for real? Do you do what you say you’ll do? Are you a good worker, neighbour? Does your family-life work and are you authentic?
Going back to the 24-Hour Lemons Car Race, we won the award for “Most Consistent”. That doesn’t mean the whole race goes perfectly. It means we consistently kept on going no matter what it took to hit the target.
We had two cars in the race, a white car and a black car. Both caused us quite a few problems during the 24-hours of the race. In fact, the black car had had alternator and battery problems since halfway through the night. At the end of the race, the car was struggling to get home to be classified as a finisher, and that was all we were after, to get both cars classified as finishers. On the last lap the black car finally died, and we had to push it the length of the pits.
So, the team and driver started to push the car and then members of other teams started to help. They knew we were not only Christian, but authentic and generous with our help and our gear, so they joined us to help us succeed. Consistency matters!
Blessings
Paul Monahan