“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 winter in Central Illinois has been brutal for me. I think the weather people should replace the “windchill index” with the phrase “arthritis pain level” as that is what has been smacking my joints in 2025. These arctic blast fronts moving through have caused my age to increase exponentially to the drop in temperature and pressure and causing me to feel twenty years older than my driver’s license reveals.
Take a look at the wisdom from Isaiah the Prophet in the above verses and tell me how that applies to you. Every day I am a day older and another day closer to seeing Jesus face to face. Physically, my aging body of flesh, blood and arthritis is beginning to hit the brakes. Going up the stairs is more difficult. I use a staff much like the one in the photo when I walk down my drive to get my mail. Not because it is a fashion statement but rather a tool to keep me from falling down. I prefer to sit more than stand as that is much safer. There have been more times that I’ve taken Holy Communion in my pew. Mentally, there are times that I can't remember what I am looking for or names of people that I know. I see photos from Haiti and can’t recall their names or where they live. When I look at the staff the Haitian man is holding the thought of where his hand has been crosses my mind; he most certainly has lived a hard life. Emotionally. My doctor gave me a wellness survey and one of the first questions was “are you afraid to fall”…duh!
A few more observations about aging. Sometimes I find myself being more negative, critical, and ornery at times to the point of embarrassing my daughters. Sometimes, I am reluctant to let those who are younger do things for me that I used to do. Recently, I felt guilty for not going to church when the temperature was 5 and the windchill was -12. Sometimes it is just hard to adapt and adjust to just getting old. What really bothers me is the memory of those days when I was once were so efficient, capable, needed, and fulfilled. Those were the days…when I could.
Our adult Bible study group at Our Redeemer Lutheran is being led through Genesis by Pastor Andrew Smith. We’ve been discussing some of God’s patriarchs who were among His choicest possessions. It seems that they were more effective once they grew old. None of us who are growing older fails to see that growing old has its difficulties and heartaches. It does. As we wake up to yet another day that God has prepared for us, it is important that we don’t only see the hot sands of our desert experience and miss the lovely oases here in Central Illinois, at the end of the staff in Haiti and there where you live. We need to ask our Heavenly Father to not let us turn the latter part of our journey through this life into an arid, tasteless endurance which makes everyone miserable. Dear aged brothers and sisters in Christ, please don't forget that God has decided to let you live this long. Your old age is not a mistake, not an oversight nor an afterthought. Isn't it about time you and I cooled our tongues and softened our crooked smile with a refreshing drink from the water of God's oasis? It seems that I’ve been thirsty a long, long time. Come Lord Jesus…come. Come with me and let’s feed some school kids in Haiti.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay