Adages for Aging
This promise made to Isaiah is relevant to you regardless of your age:
“EVEN TO YOUR OLD AGE AND GRAY HAIRS I AM THE ONE.
I AM THE ONE 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
Write that on the wall of your cranium. Read it often. It is a wonderful promise. As the candles get more crowded on our birthday cake these promises become more precious.
We do well to pray : “… teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
In Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, we are advised “Not merely to count them, how many they are, in an arithmetical way . . . but the sense is, that God would teach us seriously to meditate on . . . the shortness of our days . . . and to observe how unprofitably we have spent them; which may encourage us to be redeeming the time.”
Some believe youth is the happiest time of life. Not so! The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts. Thus you can grow happier as you grow older. Deposit godly thoughts in your memory bank so you can enjoy the dividends as they pay interest.
Unfortunately some are robbed of the joy of age by a mental disorder or other ailments. However, keep your mind young as long as you are able. A creative way of doing so is to study to show yourself a workman approved unto God. Motivate yourself to memorize passages of scripture. Start now regardless of your age. The mind is like a muscle that must be exercised to be strong.
This is a prayer for a person of any age. “Dear God, please give me strength when I am weak, love when I feel forsaken, courage when I am afraid, wisdom when I feel foolish, comfort when I am alone, hope when I feel rejected, and peace when I am in turmoil.”
We have been reminded: “You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”
It matters not how long you live, but how you live.
“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God….” ( Ps. 71: 18) When prone to pray that text reflect on the passage from Isaiah with which this Post opened.