I woke up one day recently and made the
realization, “hey, I'm almost forty.” I then thought “how the
heck did that happen?!” I think these thoughts had something to do
with my having a birthday a few months ago. Suddenly I went from the
middle of my thirties to my later thirties and forty didn't seem as
far away as it should have. Something inside me shouted, “no, wait!
I can't be nearly forty yet! I couldn't possibly be!” But, here I
am. And, with the realization of my impending four-oh, I realized
that most likely, I'm in the middle of my life now.
No, thirty-seven isn't generally
considered middle-age, that's true. But both my grandfather and
great-grandfather died when they were in their early to mid
seventies, and my dad isn't doing so hot right now being in his late
sixties. That doesn't improve my odds at longevity past my early
seventies.
Be this as it may, it doesn't bother me
that I may die in another thirty-seven years like my forefathers. I
know it's going to happen at some point in time. To be honest, I'd
rather it happen with all of my faculties intact. I suppose it struck
me more because it means I most likely only have a little less than
forty years left. Forty years seems like a long time at first, but
seeing as I wasn't prepared for the last thirty-seven to blaze by as
fast as it did, it seems a lot closer now than it used to.
The question then becomes, what have I
done with my life for the last thirty-seven years? I suppose it
depends on whom you ask. I'm fairly certain there are people who
would swear that I've totally wasted it. Others might say that I
spent it chasing after a fantasy. Still others might be kind and
point to my family, my wife and kids, and the people the Lord has
used me to work with and say that neither is true, as rough a road as
it has been.
A wise friend once told me that God
isn't so much concerned about the work of a worker as He is concerned
about the work in the worker. He later told me that God's work is the
worker himself. I've come to understand that more and more.
Everything He's allowed me to do and be a part in has been done with
the goal in mind of making me one with Him. Every failure, every
success, every slip, and every re-direction. When God said “no”
to something, it was because it wasn't in my best interests as much
as it wasn't in the best interests of everyone else who would have
been impacted. When He permitted something, it was because it would
further that goal with me, and with everyone else involved.
The greatness of the successes and
failures which we cling to and allow to define who we are in this
life don't really matter much in the end. In a hundred years, no one
except people interested in obscure history will remember them.
Wealth, accomplishments, personal disasters, and poverty all end in
this way for everyone. Even our memories which we cling to will fade
as the brain fails, and we don't recognize even our loved ones. So
what is left to aspire to then?
God does not fade. God does not end.
And the purpose and goal of our lives is to become one with Him
through Jesus Christ. Because, at the end, we will lose everything of
this life we have worked so hard to achieve no matter how hard we try
and hold on to it. But what cannot be lost through the death of the
body is our upward calling to union with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment