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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Trying
To Face The Inevitable No one likes growing
old, but it is inevitable. The
process of decay in our bodies that leads to our eventual death has been
the human reality since the events that are recorded in Genesis 3.
We can name, claim, and declare victory over the aging process with
all of the hyper-faith we can muster, but that changes nothing, and why?
The cross of Christ did not remove the decaying process of aging.
We all grow old and we all will die.
With old age comes the
aches, the pains, the illnesses, the doctor visits, the meds, and a
variety of medical tests. It
has taken about seventy two years, but all of this is catching up to me.
So how do I try to handle it?
I have accepted our
post-Genesis 3 reality. It has
been burned into my brain and I've allowed it to sink into my soul whereby
it is a Biblical conviction by whi8ch I live. I don't try to name,
claim or declare the aging process away, but, during ongoing conversation
with Jesus as is my daily routine, I remind Him how I'd appreciate some
relief. More importantly, I
ask Him for grace as I age. I realize that grace, as
it relates to God's interaction with us, is more than His unmerited favour
directed our way. Grace is
also His divine ability given to me so I can accomplish His will in whatever
situation I find myself. It is
this aspect of grace I ask of Jesus. Faith is trust and over
the years I have tried to trust Jesus with all aspects of my life.
That includes any negative situations, like aging, that confront
me. Why should that change now
that I'm old? Now, with all the
new-found, older-age limitations, I still desire to serve Jesus, and that
I will do within the confines of these limitations.
I don't like it, but change in this respect is par for the aging
course of life, but I'm used to limitations.
Being legally blind from birth has limited me from serving Jesus in
ways I have desired.
If I want to survive old age with a good measure of gracious satisfied contentment, I must draw on God's Spirit residing within me. Failure in this respect will lead to failure to survive as I hope.
No
one likes to hear it, but it's God's will for us to grow old and die.
As in all aspects of life, preparation for this inevitability is
important. It's too late to prepare for the inevitable once it
confronts us. We prepare by eating right, exercising, taking our
meds, creating a will, a power of attorney over finances and health, and
more. Just as important is being spiritually prepared by allowing
God's nature to be formed into the fabric of who we are.
In baseball terms, there
are other things we can do to soften the fast-ball blow of old age as it
pushes us off the home plate of life.
I like listening to all styles of music from all phases of my life.
Listening to songs from the past will flood me with fond
emotion-filled memories that bring comfort and enjoyment.
The slow soothing sound of the steel guitar will bring a tear to my
eye as it reminds me of my father.
So, if I end up stuck in
a nursing home, which I hope I won't be, just rip off those head phones
from my ears and ask me if I have been able to practice what I have just
preached. Hopefully and
prayerfully I can answer in the affirmative, but only time will tell if I
succeed.
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