Consistent not Common

The Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.
Psalms 100:5 GW

Yesterday, we learned about our being persistent in our prayer.

And in discussing our persistence in prayer, we talked about how all good gifts come from God — and how His good gifts are in contrast to the things of this world that are perishing.

We learned that persistence in prayer is about receiving. Consistency is about abiding, keeping, staying. God demonstrates consistency for us in His goodness, mercy and faithfulness to us.

Another way to look at it is that persistence is striving for what we realized we wanted but did not yet have — and consistency is how we demonstrate that we still want it now that we have it. A child might be persistent about asking for a new “thing” but tire of it quickly and move onto something else. But if that enjoyment remains and they consistently use it and enjoy it year after year, it proves itself to be more valuable to them. In fact, the value may not be as conscious to them as they may still be chasing “new things”, but it’s consistent, abiding presence in their life every day demonstrates clearly to others its value.

I might ask myself, “What am I persistently seeking, and what do I carry consistently with me each day that others can see is most valuable to me?”

I have only been awake for an hour this morning, but there have already been thousands of blessings that I’ve encountered this morning:

• I woke up healthy.
• The sun rose.
• The birds sang.
• My wife woke up healthy.
• My daughter woke up healthy.
• Our dogs woke healthy.
• The power, water and utilities were all on.
• The hvac had kept the house confidante through the night.
• Our house is still providing shelter.
• Our toilets worked.
• My body successfully relieved itself of yesterday’s waste to make room for today’s nutrients.
• I have a good job that I enjoy and that challenges me.
• Technology allowed me to restart a server (planned outside hours restart) early this morning from the confort of my bed in minutes.
• I am loved by Almighty God the Father whose mercy provided me a way back into His arms through Jesus Christ the Son, and who provides me each day His abiding presence the the Holy Spirit.
• My Bible App allowed me to consider, contemplate and study The Word this morning.
• The WordPress App and connectivity across the globe allows me to share the gospel across every nation, tribe and tongue.

I got up this morning, and so many blessings were present like they are almost every morning. It might be easy to overlook them because they are “consistent” in my life, but my familiarity with these blessings doesn’t make them any less valuable or important. Even just one of these blessings not being present this morning would have impacted my day significantly.

My point is that it may take me stepping back and considering the consistency of God’s goodness that this morning’s verse mentions.

It not only reminds me of who He is, but it sets my heart and mind up in a healthy alignment in order to make contact with the day.

Yes, today will have its challenges, it’s trials, it’s temptations, and it’s struggle — but how much deeper and wider and full is the mercy and love and faithfulness of our God in blessing us every day? Amen.