Consistently Inconsistent
What is the most frustrating thing about watching baseball? Having an umpire who doesn’t call consistent plays. Coaches will study umpires and instruct their pitchers to throw certain pitches, knowing the umpire almost always will call that pitch a strike. So, when you get an umpire who’s always all over the place with his calls, he’s consistently inconsistent, which can be frustrating, making it hard to know how to proceed in the game.
We are quick to criticize umpires, but we are all umpires in this ball game called Christianity. It must be frustrating for God to endure our consistent inconsistency. We say that we love our church, but then we don’t go regularly and we don’t give as the bible instructs us to. Inconsistent. We say that we want our kids to know the Lord, but then we devote more time making sure they are A+ students and good athletes, over-involved in so many activities, there’s no time for God. Inconsistent. We say we want to lose weight, regain our health, but our diet and exercise (or lack of) say otherwise. Inconsistent. James 1:6-8 warns of being double-minded and says if we are tossed around by the wind with unbelief, we shouldn’t expect anything from the Lord because we are too unstable.
You think God is too “holy” or “gracious” to be frustrated? Luke 9:37:41 in The Message says, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this?” Jesus had just returned from a time of prayer to find a man complaining to Jesus that His disciples could not heal his son. There’s debate on whether Jesus was rebuking the man, the crowd or His disciples, but either way, this verse rebukes us today. God will continue to show us the way, but it frustrates Him when we consistently disobey after He’s bailed us out in the past for the same sin.
So, how do you go from being inconsistent to consistent? You’ve got to get FAT! (Sound Familiar?) Faithful, Available and Teachable. To be faithful is to trust and believe, to endure and be productive. To be available is to not overbook...we’ve calendared God out of our lives by being too busy. And last, be teachable, not just open to being taught, but open to being corrected.
There are five steps to becoming FAT and consistent. The first is to commit. Take your spiritual health and relationship with Jesus seriously. Secondly, develop a plan. Make time for God; don’t let your busyness keep you from being about your Father’s business. Third, be accountable. Connect with others who will help you stay on track. Next, don’t overwhelm yourself by biting off more than you can chew. Pastor once told me, when instructing me about tithing, “I’d rather you be faithful with a little than unfaithful with much.” Lastly, forgive your failures. We will all fail at some point. Ask for forgiveness, get back up and press on. Don’t quit because God never has never given up on you.
Content and inspiration from Pastor Jordan Wilson, Church in the Country, Woodville, Texas.