Last May I turned eighty-four! Wow! But I’m nowhere near matching my Mom. She died just 12 years ago at the lovely age of one hundred two, with a totally clear mind and much annoyance that her body was not keeping up! The things that she could tell about having seen the birth of so much technology were fascinating.
But she was not able to tell us about the most wonderful thing she saw. She loved the Lord, and just as she was actually dying, in her own bed, in her own house, smiling, she kept saying, “Oh my …… Oh my ……. Oh my…..!” And then she was gone. Isn’t that absolutely beautiful? Isn’t that a wonderful thing to expect at the end of our lives? Usually when we are anticipating something nice, we say, “I can’t wait!” Well, scratch that; I can wait! But I certainly have no fear.
One true advantage of being older, as anyone of us can tell you, is the development of the reassuring certainty that our God will see us through. Always. Perfectly. Pain is pain, and it hurts, and we hate it, but as we age we can see over and over how God was accomplishing good things through it, and other than drilling a hole in our skull and pouring the knowledge in there was no other way that we could grow, and learn, and most of all develop that perfect trust in God.
But it’s not automatic. Look at what God’s people did while Moses was up on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments. He was talking with GOD, for pity’s sake, but they decided Moses had been gone too long so they built a gold calf, and they actually worshipped it! Before we sneer, we need to remember how many golden calves, how many of our own worldly solutions, we have tried to trust instead of trusting in God’s everlasting, never-failing love for us. Nothing, but nothing comes into our lives unless God allows it. And His purposes are always, always for our good. We have to choose.
Hindsight is our teacher. Only by revisiting episodes in our past can we begin to see how God has refined us, often dragging us kicking and screaming, into a closer image of himself. And hopefully, as we age, and experience more and more, with the help of the Holy Spirit we will develop a deeper understanding of our need for God, and how he is always working for our good, only for our good. ALWAYS.
Norma Stockton