Devotional - Consistency

It was early on Saturday morning and my dad woke me up to go down to the church. The youth group was going to gather together at the church and then head over to a park to do some cleaning. I did not want to go. I was only about 11years old or so and since I was a church kid Saturday was the only day of the week I got to sleep in. Well my dad dragged me out of bed and we were on our way to the church despite my objections. We were no less than a block away from the church when something I never expected to happen was right outside the door of our car. Inside of the Hardee’s parking lot was a big rig truck with Karl Malone’s face on the side of it. We knew that Karl Malone had started his own trucking company in Utah and my dad thought he might be the driver of the truck. I thought my dad was crazy and that it was just probably some trucker who wanted to stop for a burger. But my dad wanted to check for sure, so we went inside of the restaurant and standing at 6ft 9inches in line to order food was Karl Malone. Now you have to remember that in Utah we didn’t have celebrities all over the place like in LA. We didn’t even have any other pro teams other than the Utah Jazz. To me, meeting Karl Malone was the greatest thing that could have happened to me at 11 years old. Shyness took over me and I was frozen, my dad walked up to Karl Malone and asked him if he could get an autograph for me. Karl Malone gave me an autograph and started small talk with my dad, it was so cool. My dad told him that there was a whole group of kids over at the church getting ready for an outreach at the park. Karl Malone told my dad to send them all over to the restaurant and he’d buy them breakfast.

We went on to have a great day on our outreach and so did all of my friends from church. Later that day my dad asked me “See Ryan, now are you glad you came to church today?” I sure was… If I had stayed in bed like I wanted to none of it would have ever happened.

Psalm 54:5-7 says "Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them. I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

I know that sometimes serving God week in and week out can get tiring, but consistency has its rewards. It may be a sacrifice, but it just also may be the sacrifice you need to make. Now I’m not saying that serving God is about what we get out of it, it’s what we give to God that is important. But every now and then, when you think you are burned out or getting tired God can surprise you with something you could never imagine. And here’s something to think about too; to some of these kids that you serve, they see you like I saw Karl Malone. To some of these kids, spending time with you at church is the best part of their week. When we step out of our comfort zone and realize that we are a part of something bigger, which can drive us and motivate us to do anything for God. Don’t get caught up in the way you feel, because if you do you would never be a part of something great. If I wait until I feel like waking up to get out of bed I would still be under the sheets snoozing away. This week I want to challenge you to take an inventory of your own life and ask yourself “Am I consistent with God? Am I consistent where I serve in ministry?”

If you find that you are consistent with these areas, great! If not, don’t beat yourself up over them. Find ways that you can make a transformation for the best. God is on your side and won’t give up on you!