Internet metrics tell me that most of you who read my blog posts and newsletters are over the age of 55. While I usually focus on topics of interest to all age groups, today, I have something on my heart to share with my friends in their final years of life. If you are in the minority of my readers under the age of 55, please read anyway. Start strengthening yourself now for what lies ahead.
My heart’s message to you?
Stand firm.
If you currently have faith in Christ, stand firm. Stay faithful.
“Of course I will,” you might say. “I’ve been a Christian many years. I’m not giving up on Jesus now. My faith in God is strong and stable.”
It’s not so simple.
I know many of you. If crisis struck with tornado force, you would reach up to God and out to your support system, and God’s glory would shine through your faithfulness. But the book of Hebrews warns us that forces other than strong winds can pull our faith from us.
Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” The text goes on to say, “ For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation Hebrews 2:2,3a)?”
The theme of this book is to persuade discouraged Christians to stay faithful in times of opposition. I find it interesting, however, that the author uses the term “drift away” so early in the book to describe those who might reject their faith in Christ. Yes, we stand solid when we see hardships coming. We prepare, stock up, and protect our property. But the author isn’t talking about that. He’s talking about the small persistent stuff that can start wearing us down, distract us, and make us squirm in discomfort and confusion.
When we squirm, we shift our feet. When we shift, we’re off balance. We forgot to stand firm. And Satan has us right where he wants us.
What are those older age issues that might nudge us away from our faith?
Health
The older years of life are not easy. As my grandfather often said, “Growing old is not for sissies.” When I reached the magical Medicare age, my datebook filled with a new schedule of tests, exams, and exercise routines. I was resentful. Must I devote so much time to personal care? I could be doing so many other useful things!
As health issues vie for our attention and medical appointments dominate our schedule, it’s tempting to become self-focused: to talk mostly about our health, join others in their discussions about health, and allow how we feel physically to impact our behavior and relationships with others. And when the big serious health issue occurs, the world taunts us to ask, “Where is God? Why has He allowed this to happen to me?”
This body is only temporary. It’s made to wear out. Growing old is part of life’s equation. But like Hebrews tells us, we who belong to Christ should look beyond the grave to another country. Our focus is on the eternal.
How do we cope with the new life pattern? Like anything else, God calls us to use the mishaps of the medical as tools to proclaim His name in places we wouldn’t be otherwise. We can use our health concerns as a prompt to the hope and confidence we have in Christ.
Relationships
Aging is such a tough time. We see the generation before us leaving this earth. Our friends move away, pass away, or turn away. We now have a lifetime of relationship baggage and disappointments. And as we watch the generations behind us make poor life choices over which we no longer have control. we say with dismay, “I raised them better than this.”
One reaction we might have is to rationalize the younger generation’s behavior. Surely the faith they claimed as a child will get them through. Maybe God’s grace is bigger than their rebellion against God. He is loving and merciful, right? Maybe the Bible really doesn’t mean what it says about certain life choices. Maybe there is more than one path to Heaven . . . and so our thinking drifts from the truths we’ve known into subtle deceptions.
There’s another attitude we could take. A common knee jerk reaction is to alienate the people God has put in our lives to love. We have to stay true to the truth, right? Hating the sin and loving the sinner sounds impossible so we tend to choose one or the other and too many parents and grandparents have chosen to exclude love in their determination to stay true to their long held values.
Stand strong on the truth of God but don’t change your commitment toward those you love. Keep short accounts. Use this season of life to learn the larger lessons of tough love and forgiveness. When you feel you can’t do anything else, entrust these precious lives to God. You do what God has called you to do, and leave your loved ones in His capable hands.
Productivity
Retirement gives us a chance to slow down in the final years of our life. Ah, but how? An older person knows they can’t do all that they used to do, but it’s so frustrating!
For years, we have based our worth on what we think is God’s major calling on our life. Then, when age, health, and circumstances strip that from us, feelings of uselessness and guilt creep in. My mother used to tell our pastor, “I want to be productive.” Telling her for ten years that she can pray for others didn’t do any good. Now that I’m “stuck at home” caregiving most of the time, I realize how flat those words sound. It’s all too easy to drift into playing smart phone games and feel more guilty than ever.
The other extreme is to think, “I’ve done my share. Now it’s time to have fun.” This thinking buys into a selfish earthly perspective. It’s easy to stray into thinking we deserve it and it’s time we indulge in self-care.
How do we balance the need to relax yet still be productive for the sake of God’s Kingdom? I’ve discovered that God’s calling on our lives is seasonal, many times, “in the moment.” While the large picture calling has guided us most of our lives, God is not limited to our one spiritual gift and neither should we. I’ve learned to ask each morning:
“Lord what do You want me to do TODAY?”
“Lord, WHO do you want me to see TODAY?’
As I ask those questions, I learn to find satisfaction in God’s answers. And those fun moments? In my moments of enjoyment, I ask the Lord to help me keep my focus on people and relationship and to see Kingdom value in everything I do.
Change
The world is changing so fast! Social media alone—our ability to communicate and who we can reach boggles my mind. As a writer, I feel pressure to use all these wonderful resources to reach my audience. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, er, I mean X, Pinterest, Teebow, I mean Tebo–or is it TikTok?
But . .. I. Just. Can’t. Keep. Up.
The world is speeding up as my brain is slowing down. At times, I want to throw up my hands and just not bother.
Society lures us with the new and improved. It feeds us with the lie that we won’t be successful or in touch if we don’t jump on the band wagon of progress or keep up with the latest innovation. The current of common thinking draws us toward the belief that our social and business success lies in the almighty Internet.
I have news for you. God is more powerful than the Internet.
Change and innovation are good things. But like anything in life, we need to avoid the temptation to become dependent on those things for our life or livelihood. They are merely tools that help us accomplish the eternal.
Do what you can with what you have. Something is better than nothing. You don’t have to understand all the ends and outs of an Internet based bank account or a medical office portal to use it. If you run into the proverbial brick wall, ask the One who created man’s mind to come up with such things to help you accomplish what you have to or lead you to others who can explain it or do it for you.
Stand firm. Don’t allow the frustrations of a new complicated system rob you of your peace and joy in Jesus.
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus
The first time I saw the ocean, a friend’s parents had taken us out on their boat off Huntington Beach in California. One of our group started experiencing motion sickness. Our friend’s mom led her to the railing. “Look at the shoreline,” she said. “Fix your eyes on the solid land, not the rolling waves.” It worked.
Life seasons and cultural advancement act like a rolling sea beneath our feet, ever changing and steering us in unexpected directions. Our job, through the power of Christ, is to safeguard our faith. If we look at the winds and waves of new life challenges, we’ll lose focus and courage, and we’ll become disoriented and confused. Instead, as we age, we need to double our resolve to stand firm. We plant our feet firmly on a deck that rolls with each wave of change and we avoid disorientation by keeping our eyes fixed on the distant shore where eternity lies. It’s that solid line of land to reminds us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
See more posts from Karen Wingate’s blog here.
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