When a new year begins there’s always the anticipation of what God will do across the next 12 months. Verses such as ‘Behold I am doing a new thing’ get pulled out quite readily.

And yes, God is always doing a new thing.

But He’s also still doing the same thing as well. Because God never changes.

My current boss has a saying that is (ahem) consistently pulled out in meetings:

“Consistency is Key”

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. And that’s actually a good thing.

When you’re working with teenagers and children, consistency really is key. They need to know what’s happening, have knowledge of what is and isn’t permissible and have reassurance of the expected routines they will encounter both inside and outside the classroom.

Consistency is Key.

Some things should never change. And that’s actually a good thing.

The God of the Bible is many things: sovereign, all-powerful, compassionate, a promise keeper and trustworthy.

He’s also consistent.

A promise keeping God has to be consistent.

A God who hands out eternal life has to be consistent.

A God who says that He loves us forever has to be consistent.

And He is.

And therefore, so should His people be, as they are endeavouring to be more and more like Him as they “work out their salvation with fear and trembling.”

As Psalm 15 says, God’s people are consistent. They are to be someone “who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind”.

This isn’t necessarily easy, but if God is ‘in’ something, He will see it through. And He will equip His saints with whatever they need to get to the finish line. If a word of prophecy is needed, a word of prophecy will be given. If a dream is needed, a dream will be given. If a vision is needed, a vision will be given.

If God is ‘in’ something, He will see it through.

Because He’s a consistent God. And therefore, so should His people be.

Drawing again on my experience in the classroom, I often think about how I am in God’s classroom. I think I’m that kid who keeps putting their hand up and asking when something is going to happen.

“But God, we need to do this now.”

I’m that kid in God’s classroom.

And just as my students may think that I’ve forgotten something or that I’m being inconsistent – but I’m not – so we might think that God is inconsistent. That’s He’s forgotten. Or that He doesn’t he keep his promises.

But He does.

Because there’s no one more consistent than God.

And God knows that there’s a reason why He hasn’t done that thing yet. And this is because there’s a learning sequence that needs to take place before we get to that point.

It doesn’t mean that He’s forgotten or changed His mind. It just means there’s a delay.

As it says in Habakkuk:

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.

It’s a new year with new things that will happen. God will make a way in the desert and open up the door for a whole range of new works and wonders.

Yet God will also remain consistent, doing what He has always done. He will be the same God He has always been and will keep His promises through to the end.

If God is ‘in’ something, He will see it through. Because some things never change. God never stops loving us.

And His people will be just the same.

And that’s a good thing. Actually.

Yours consistently,

Alison