Transitioning into Old Age

I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.

Psalm 37:25

This may well be the most difficult blog I have ever written. It has been so long since I have been able to keep up with the responsibility of writing. Back in February, I reached a landmark birthday. Seventy-five! What I had planned, then, was to write my thoughts about becoming elderly. If that is what this is called. I’m not sure. Outside of some new aches and pains, I pretty much feel the same as I did 20 or 30 years ago.

Then just days before my birthday, two of my children had devastating losses affecting their  lives. One son continues to suffer a series of losses. Still ongoing. To him, everything looks absolutely hopeless and to those of us trying to comfort and encourage him, the situation is bleak at best. Even at age 75 there are still unanswered questions for me, seemingly hopeless problems, insurmountable sadness.

I write this right now while in the same room as my son, both of us working on our computers while every now and then he rhetorically asks the question haunting his mind. Where is God in all this? I have often answered, but now I sit silently. He doesn’t hear what I say. I wonder myself: Why has this continued, on and on?

I guess it is the experience of aging and knowing Jesus that work together and are forming my thoughts as I write. All of us are in this earthly life together. There are hundreds of ways each of us could describe our life experiences, what we actually have learned from life, and our personal longevity. Many of us have our own unique theories. However, for those who have found the truth of who Jesus Christ is as Peter declared it—”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16)—we have more than a theory. Those of us who trust Him, these numbered children of God, this Bride of Christ, we would agree despite all the hardships and trials we may have endured, that Jesus Christ is our very life. 

As God’s people we often have faced difficulties, suffered extreme losses, lived through persecution, seen the need to repent not once, but over and over again. Calling on the name of the Lord from the depths of our need, time and time again. Yet, we find each time that the grace and mercy of our Lord endure forever. At the end of our lives, we can stand on the merit of the next three statements without hesitation.

1. I know that my redeemer lives (Job 19:25). He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). I don’t remember how old I was or when exactly I first confronted that statement from Job and later realized what Jesus is doing for me all the time. But those verses resonated with me then, and still do. My [our] God is living. Presently alive. Always has been. Always will be. He created me not for my own purposes, but rather for His. He is for me and sent His only begotten Son to take on my sin, that which kept me from Him. Right now, that Savior stands before God pleading my cause in words I cannot even make out. All because His steadfast love for me endures forever.

1. He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). There was a hard time for me several years ago with one of my children that caused me to spend a lot of time driving in my car. (Supporting my children while they walk through dark times is probably the hardest part of being a parent. Most parents would love to take it on themselves if that were possible.) That day in the car, I felt spent. Alone. Was it something I was listening to—a book, a sermon, a song? I can’t remember. What I do remember is that suddenly I realized I was not alone. The specific verse above came flashing into my mind. God’s Spirit was right beside me, in front and back, and inside me. The ever-present Spirit of God and His best assurance was that He would always be there. Meditate on that and don’t forget, His voice urged me. Why would I forget that? But I still do from time to time. He never fails to remind me and calls me quickly back to the foot of the cross.

1. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). This is a great promise. That someday all will be revealed. I will understand the purposes of this faithful God who for whatever reason called me to Himself through His Son, Jesus, and even through the worst of times poured out His abundant love and blessing. It will be so much more than my earthly finite mind could ever comprehend. But then I will know as I am now known by Him. And I will live with Him forever. No more tears. No more trials. A forever life of wonder and beauty and wholeness. Together with all believers at a great feast with our host God Almighty. That is a life to which even 75 years on this earth has no comparison.

These three statements give me hope and are my only hope. 

Finally, I am thankful. There are over 100 commands throughout the Bible to be thankful, even before anything else. We are to be full of thanksgiving. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18). I may not initially be sure what God’s will is regarding a new job or what to do about a toxic relationship; but I am sure that whatever job I am in at the moment or whatever relationship is presenting difficulty now, that I need to give thanks. This is God’s will. Always.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, 

high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 

Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered 

his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one 

called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!” 

 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, 

and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; 

for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean 

lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that 

he had taken with tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth and said: 

“Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin 

atoned for.” 

—Isaiah 6:1-7

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, 

flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of 

the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with 

its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the 

tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything 

accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his 

servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on 

their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of 

lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever 

and ever. 

—Revelation 22:1-5

And when I look, I see that the 75 years of this life that God created have been very good.