September 26, 2024 Flourishing With Age
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Flourishing With Age
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they still produce fruit;
they are always green and full of sap,
showing that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
Psalm 92:12-15, NRSV
My husband replaced his ancient, heavy, and hard-to-start gas lawn mower with a new, light, push-button electric one. Yet, the next day, when the bulk trash pick-up came by our home, he refused to let go of the gas mower. His reasoning: “It’s my back-up in case the electric does not work to my liking.” Even though the gas mower is broken and unusable?! ☹
The problem of letting go is not only my husband’s issue but also mine, I realize. I have had trouble letting go of attitudes and beliefs that are no longer life-giving as I step further into my senior years. I particularly identify with a few from Alice Fryling’s list in her book, Aging Faithfully, beliefs that have enslaved me in the past, such as:
- The compulsive belief to keep trying to earn and deserve God’s love;
- Assuming responsibility for meeting any need I become aware of; and
- Proving my value through productivity, busyness, and constant activity.
And I added a few of my own:
- Believing one leader’s refrain that good enough is never good enough;
- Believing everything must be done perfectly;
- Believing that sitting still is a waste of time.
As I become the older person God seems shaping me to be, I am learning to do a better job of living by the commandment He gave Moses and the Israelites after He called them out of Egypt:
I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you.
Now choose life.
Deuteronomy 30:19, CEB
For me, choosing life means letting go of activities I no longer find spiritually fulfilling and attitudes or beliefs that no longer serve the purposes for which God calls me in this third third of life. Letting go of things that now sap my mental and physical energy leaves time and space for sitting at the feet of Jesus, and for discovering the new places God wants me to focus. It also has helped me to experience one of Fryling’s life-giving realizations:
“When I complain that I run out of energy before I run out of day, I sense God smiling at me and whispering in the Holy Spirit’s silent way, Don’t worry. It’s okay. I love you even when you can’t do all you used to do.”
Reflect: What attitudes or beliefs do you need to let go because they sap your energy and strength rather than energize and strengthen you?
Prayer: Loving God, full of grace, root me deeply in Your Word and abiding love. Help me to let go of any enslaving attitude and strength-draining activity so that I might flourish in Your courts and continue to bear good fruit. Help me to live as a testimony to Your unwavering love and faithfulness. To You be all the glory now and forevermore. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader