Consistency

I was out of balance the last few weeks of school. Maybe my body was just tired. Maybe my brain was fried. Getting up to meet with God simply got put on the back burner. I kept thinking of Galatians 6:9 "do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart". Its seems that there are seasons of 'growing weary' and I do 'lose heart'. Those seasons seem to become shorter and less frequent as I grow in my walk with Christ with more understanding and I grower closer in intimacy. I found that when I let meeting with God at our scheduled hour slip by each morning, my life felt like it was floundering at sea at the mercy of any given wind that blew through. Ok, maybe not that dramatic, but life didn't feel as certain (as certain as can be in this very uncertain world) as it did when God was first each morning.
So, what makes balance for me? Remember I am a wife, a mother of two young girls, active in the women's ministry at our church and co-lead a small group with my husband. It can be easy to get out of balance and I did and I do. Back to the original question, what makes balance for me? Consistency. Let's not confuse consistency with complacency. Complacency is going through the motions and not feeling the emotion of devotion.
Consistency in God's word and His presence, consistency in exercise and good eating habits, and consistency in rest and sleep help me to keep my life in balance. You might think of it as a three legged stool. Remove one leg and the stool falls. I find when these three things are the three goals I simply aim for in consistency each day, God takes care of the rest.
I am not saying that just because I meet with God consistently every morning and spend time in His word that now I am perfect and I have all the answers. What that consistency does do though is allows me to be more in-tune with the Holy Spirit and less centered on myself. It allows me to hear God prompt my heart, direct my footsteps, guide me in conversations with my girls and others. It allows me to see where God is leading me being His child in this world and then I naturally fall into His work He is doing instead of seeking to do "good works".
I am not saying that just because I exercise and make good choices in my eating habits that suddenly I have a model's unblemished airbrushed body and that sexual desires pour out of me toward my husband in my unchanged busy schedule. What it does do though is it allows me to feel better about my self, more confident with my husband, as well as with others. It helps me feel more comfortable in my own skin; therefore, allowing me to focus less on me and more on what the Holy Spirit is working within me for my husband, my girls and others.
I am not saying that just because I have consistent rest and sleep that my girls naturally stop arguing and fighting, that the I stop struggling to seize those life teaching moments and that I suddenly can see past the faults of my husband, myself and others. What does happen though is that when I am well rested, consistently, I see the grace available to me, the scales fall off my eyes then I can see that I need that grace as much as the next person and it allows me to extend that grace to my husband, my girls and others more readily.
Now, lets not confuse consistency with perfection. As I mentioned earlier, I still manage to get out of balance here and there. That means I become inconsistent in one area or more on an occasion. Maybe the summer months with its heat and humidity discourage me from getting out for that run or bike ride for a week or more. Winter has known to keep me indoors for a month or more. If I let too many commitments into my schedule or I fall into old habits of staying up late (I am naturally a night owl), I have been known to sleep right on past my meeting time with God. The point in all this is though that I am aware of my imperfections. I recognize that I am not perfect. I stop trying to be the perfect wife, mother, and friend. I go back aiming for consistency. I am reminded of Matthew 6:33 "But seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Our first and foremost priority is Him.
So, would the goal of consistency make a difference in your life? If you stopped looking at the long range goals and simply aimed for consistency on a daily basis, in your quiet time, in the WORD, in exercise, in your breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner choices, could you look back one year, five years, ten years from now and see the goals accomplished that you would have set for yourself anyway. This is what has worked for me, I wonder...would it work for you?