I recently had lunch with my cousin, who is several years older than I am. We have done ministry work together for twenty five years or more. Dave has had his concentration in the field of financial stewardship and I have worked in the area of career transition; helping people deal with the issues of transitions in their own life as well as the lives of family members. I have also worked with two other friends of mine, Roger and Rich, during the same period of time. Back in the day, all of us, through our own areas of concentration, have made an impact we hope for the kingdom of God here on earth.
I am fortunate to be surrounded by men who are God centered and have been a terrific influence in my life. I am richer for the relationship that I have had with each of these men. What’s even more interesting is that we all have different styles and points of view based on our unique backgrounds and life experiences.
During the lunch that Dave and I recently had, we got into a discussion about our lives and what the future may look like. I was struck by the positive attitude with which Dave talked about the future. In fact, I was rather taken aback. Dave has a birthday coming up in several weeks and as I said above, he is older than I am. During our lunch, he made the comment that he thought, God willing, he had another twenty years or more of working in ministry. His health is good and there is nothing that he is aware of that would prevent him from continuing to advance the kingdom on earth.
I was so impressed with his positive outlook. Of course, I know that God could take any of us at any moment, but Dave is completely fine with whatever the will of God is. In fact, it is evident that he rests in the arms of God. I was so blessed to see, once again, my cousin’s commitment to God’s will.
On the other hand, I don’t usually see things that optimistically. I admit that I have worked in the corporate world even longer than I have been in ministry. And as I wind down my corporate work, I have thought about the word “retire.” That word comes with some baggage for me.
First of all, my father didn’t live long enough to experience retirement. And it has been my experience that when family members of mine “retire”, their health tends to diminish and, quite honestly, that kind of worries me. Even if I give up my revenue generating work, I still teach several Bible studies, mentor young college age folks from my Alma Mater (the University of Illinois at Chicago) and continue to meet with colleagues while discussing our corporate lives throughout the decades. I guess you could say that I live a full life.
But after speaking with Dave, I admit that something inside me changed. It wasn’t so long ago that I wondered how much time I have left – have I been a good steward? And how do I wind things down and turn things over to the next generation?
But now I have an entirely different outlook. For starters, there isn’t a good reference in the Bible about retirement. For example, the priests were to study and then begin their service at the age of thirty. They served until the age of fifty. Most people think they then retired, but that’s not what happened. They were expected to teach and pour their lives into the young priests, those under the age of thirty, so they could be as productive as possible during the time that they were to serve in their formal capacities.
Aside from that, each of us has a God given capacity and I don’t think that God is done with me yet. I don’t know that I can immediately be as optimistic as my cousin, but I’m working on it. It’s a funny thing – when I was a young person, I wanted to be older – but now that I’m older, I would like to be younger. Where did the sweet spot go? Well, I’m still trying to find it.
Our verse for tonight comes from the 139th Psalm. This psalm, in addition to speaking about the omnipresence and omnipotence of God, has the psalmist imploring God to search him and “fix” whatever needs to be adjusted so that he can lead a very productive life. I’m onboard with that! The psalmist tells us, in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
My encouragement this evening is that I’ll never be perfect in this life. But God can still shape me for the next season of my life to be as Christlike as I can be. My prayer is that each of us can prepare for the next season of our lives, asking God to search us and prepare us for whatever He desires for us in the future. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…