Skip to main content

To My Old Age and Gray Hairs

             Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:4)

This isn’t something I think about a lot, but Biblegateway.com suggested this verse today. It combines one of my realities and one of my fears. I’m getting older. My grandmother, my aunt, and my father all developed some form of dementia. My grandfather and mother got cancer, and my grandfather, grandmother, and father all had heart problems. Something else they had in common was that they had children.

Some folks claim I’m single by choice, and to a certain extent, that’s true. I didn’t go out there and try to find someone. My standards were too high. Whatever. The point is that I am single, and the idea of imposing on hapless relative someday, or moving into a place where my whole living quarters would fit in my kitchen…let’s just say that the prospect is less than pleasant.

Years ago, I prayed about the situation from a different vantage point. I was single, so, “OK, Lord, show the world what You can do in and through the life of a single woman.”  I should still be praying that prayer,

But, as I said, I don’t think too much about this issue until something brings it to mind, like today’s passage. It’s a valid concern, a realistic consideration. And today’s verse is one that I need to drive deep into my mind and heart, so that when the fears and concerns do come to mind, or the thing feared approaches, I can call on it.

Even to my old age and gray hairs, He is God. He is the One who will sustain me. He made me and He will carry me; He will sustain me and rescue me. At its most dramatic, He will take me from some prison cell (or nursing home bed) where I’ve spent the last several years with no clue where I was, who I was, etc., and take me home – His daughter rescued from the dungeons of dementia, or from the concentration camp of the state – whether political of geriatric. Or He will rescue me from a fulfilling life as a novelist and poverty that the world thinks great riches, to welcome me home. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Out of the Depths

  Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.   If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds . (Psalm 130)             I like Mr. Peterson’s interpretation of the first line. “The bottom has fallen out of my life!” Of course, the problem for some of us is the fact that we’re drama queens, and/or we’re weak. Any time anything happens that disturbs our sense of mastery and control, the bottom has fallen out of our lives. If the past couple of days have taught me anything, they’ve t
1 comment
Read more