Consistency
31 January 2012
Consistency seems to be a bit of a buzz word at the moment (at least amongst the circles I move in). Football managers talk about needing it to get results, at school we need to teach at a consistent level in order to make children progress (and to tick a few boxes for ‘The Management’), and we often bemoan the lack of it when we are looking to apportion blame for what we see as injustices (for example – why do some dual carriageways have a 30mph limit and a speed camera every seven yards?) Not to mention the fact that it is a topic of some controversy when applied to custard.
Generally, consistency is considered a good thing, as I alluded to above. We get results by being consistent; desirable outcomes are achieved by maintaining certain standards. There are obviously going to be exceptions, but when we see someone with a good job, we assume they worked hard consistently at school and/or university. When our team is riding high in the table, we know that they have been consistent in not losing, or conning referees into awarding dubious penalties. It’s rare that to consider consistency a negative attribute; at worst, we might consider a consistent person to be dull or predictable, but these qualities aren’t inherently detrimental. In fact, we could consider consistency to be an essential quality. I can’t think of any jobs or roles in which at least some degree of consistency is required.
The problem is that being consistent is often – in fact, usually – hard work. Just turning up for work day in, day out is a tiring process after a while, particularly when you leave and return in total darkness. I’m struggling to be consistently enthusiastic about my kids’ eight o’clock Saturday swimming lessons for that very reason. To be consistent in some areas is relatively easy – we get into routines after a while – but to be consistent when the goalposts are constantly shifting is much more difficult. This requires a mental toughness and resilience, and the ability to adapt, often at short notice. I find that this is the most draining aspect of trying to maintain consistency – much more draining than physically doing the same actions again and again. Writing on this blog is one example; having set myself the informal precedent of writing something at least every 2 weeks, it can often be difficult to see that through. Last night I stared at the screen for half an hour or so, trying to formulate what I’m saying now, but failing, as I hadn’t thought it through much.
But as we’ve been so often told, in order to achieve something you have to work at it. And if we’ve worked hard at something, we can rightly assume that there will be benefits at the end of the journey. In terms of our jobs, the amount of respect we gain, our relationships – it’s clear that being consistently positive, consistently doing what’s right, brings us success. In the Bible, we’re told to be consistent in talking to God in prayer, and in living out our relationship with Jesus. This gives us inner strength and builds us up. We’re told to speak always in a graceful way to other people, in order to convey the fact that Christ lives in us. And we’re told to meet together regularly, to share our stuff and to praise God. This leads to the outpouring of God’s joy, both amongst us as believers and amongst those who don’t yet know him. The Bible also says that one of the benefits of being consistent in our thinking as Christians is that there will be no division amongst us – and therefore no conflict (I’ll just put the can of worms back on the shelf…. there we go……)
I’ve just started reading the book of Exodus as part of the E100 challenge that our church is doing at the moment. At the moment it’s the story of Moses (you’ll know it if you’ve seen Prince of Egypt). A couple of verses in the story spoke to me of God’s consistency. In chapter 3 v6, God says to Moses, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ (God is saying that he’s been knocking around for a long time). He repeats that phrase a couple more times in chapter 3, and adds, ‘This is my name (I AM) for ever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’ God intends to be around for the whole of known time, and is himself outside of it (his name is always I AM…..). A few hundred years later, David cottoned on to this idea of God’s consistency when he wrote the Psalms, with lines like, ‘The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day the pour forth speech…… God is…an ever-present help in trouble……. The Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him……. The Lord remembers us and will bless us….. The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever…..’
What should our response be to God’s consistency, and our own frailty in that area? More advice from the Bible: ‘Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always….. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forever more……’
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