Consistency

Still reading Joshua today and just thinking about the Lord’s perfect balance of consistency in discipline, grace to give us what we don’t deserve, justice, and mercy to give us forgiveness.  It was just so matter of fact… the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and lost a whole generation because of their sin and disobedience.  God is faithful to His word and he follows through with what He says.  And yet in his mercy He still gave the promised land to the next generation.

I long to find some kind of that balance in my life.  I want to know what it looks like first of all to receive all of this from the Lord.  I actually love rules because I love order and things that make sense.  And grace and mercy just don’t always make sense and its hard to believe sometimes that they really could be true.

But I also want to find this balance in how I love others and how I parent those who have put under my responsibility for the time being.  How do I show them such consistency with rules and order and discipline while at the same time showing them grace and mercy?  Its tricky, that’s for sure, and I err on the side of discipline and rules.  I have a lot to learn.  But its got me thinking and I think that's good.  I’m ready to listen and follow and trust the Lord to show me how this looks in real life.