Today’s Word 11/29/13 (Before this devotional is read, please take a moment to remember the older members of our society. Those who’s knowledge and wisdom is undervalued, and who often sit alone hoping for someone to talk to. They miss human touch, and long to be appreciated and loved. God never made anything that does not have value. If you have the opportunity to share a moment with an elderly person, please take the time to do so. It may be only a few moments to you, but it might give someone else a reason to live. The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me Matthew 25:40) Growing Old Proverbs 16:31; Psalm 92:14; Isaiah 46:4; Titus 2:2-3 Growing old, like taxes, is a fact we all must face. Now, youre not going to get me to declare when growing up stops and growing old starts—not on your life! But there are some signs we can read along lifes journey that suggest we are entering the transition (hows that for diplomacy?). Physically, the aging bod puts on the brakes. You begin to huff and puff when you used to rip and zip. You prefer to sit more than stand . . . to watch more than to do . . . to forget your birthday rather than remember it! Mentally, the aging brain longs for relief. You cant remember like you used to, and you dont respond like you ought to. You start thinking more about yesterday and tomorrow and less about today. Emotionally, you undergo strange fears and feelings you once swore would never occur in me, such as: • Being negative, critical, and downright ornery at times. • Being reluctant to let those who are younger carry more responsibility. • Feeling unwanted and in the way. • Preoccupied with what if rather frequently. • Feeling guilty over previous mistakes and wrong decisions. • Feeling forgotten, unloved, lonely, and passed by. • Threatened by sounds, speed, financial uncertainty, and disease. • Resisting the need to adjust and adapt. People start treating you as if you have no value. All this—and there is much more—is worsened by the memory of those days when you once were so very efficient, capable, needed, and fulfilled. As you look into the mirror, youre forced to admit that the fingers of age have begun to scratch their marks upon your house of clay . . . and its hard to believe your twilight years could be of any worth. Especially when other people start treating you as if you have no value. How wrong! How terribly wrong! How destructive such thoughts can be! How quickly such thinking can sentence you to the prison cell of self-pity surrounded by the four bleak walls of doubt, depression, uselessness, and grief. Gods patriarchs have always been among His choicest possessions. Abraham was far more effective once he grew old and mellow. Moses wasnt used with any measure of success until he turned eighty. Caleb was eighty-five when he began to enjoy Gods best goals. Samuel was old, old when the God of Israel led him to establish the school of the prophets, an institution that had a lasting influence for spirituality and godliness in the centuries to come. And who could deny the way God used Paul during his last days on his knees, writing words of encouragement in letters we cherish today! No one fails to see that growing old has its difficulties and heartaches. It does, indeed. But to see only the hot sands of your desert experience and miss the lovely oases here and there (though they may be few) is to turn the latter part of your journey through life into an arid, tasteless endurance which makes everyone miserable. Please dont forget—God has decided to let you live this long. Your old age is not a mistake . . . nor an oversight . . . nor an afterthought. Isnt it about time you cooled your tongue and softened your smile with a refreshing drink from the water of Gods oasis? Youve been thirsty a long, long time. ❧ by Charles R. Swindoll ❧
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 22:54:12 +0000
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