Cast Off

Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. ~ Psalm 71:9

Who do you go to when your strength is gone?  What do you, or who do you, run too?  When we age, our strength my diminish faster, or our health my fail us until we feel like we have little to give.  Sometimes our hope my even fade as our joints weaken; our hair becomes gray, or even falls out; our age glides past the AARP enrollment stage, or maybe we just don't seem to enjoy the hobbies we used to keep anymore.....hope may seem to fade through all of it.  Forty becomes fifty, fifty becomes sixty, sixty becomes seventy and soon we may wish we could turn back the tired hand of time, but we just can't.  We must learn how to age the way God intended - hold our heads up high and gracefully offer the wisdom the younger generations need; not to just hide tucked away like I see so many of our elderly.  They have wisdom!  That gray headed young man/woman knows a lot more about life than I do and our world is to eager to cast them aside.  We should be listening!  We should be looking to them for wisdom and in the same way, when we reach the "golden years", we need to rely on Him to give us the endurance, strength and agility to offer our wisdom.  God does not turn His back on his children ever - He will give us the strength we need until our last breath is breathed.  When my time is up, I know I will be ushered into heaven by his open arms and generous grace.  Psalm 92:16 says, "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."  Not only will he not cast you away in your old age, or forget you, but He also promises to satisfy us (even in our old age), show us a long life and give us the salvation and heavenly home we have been longing for our whole earthly life. ~

My Job

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. ~ Psalm 71:18

Does your whole family believe in God?  Have they all had the opportunity to hear of Him?  You know that's your job, don't you....to make sure they have heard it.  Maybe they have heard and yet chose to turn a deaf ear; at least you told them.  One of my many daily prayers is that my children will come to love God and His ways.  We have made sure that our children are constantly aware of God and have left no doubt in their adolescent minds as to where we stand on the subject of religion and who we serve and revere.  They will never be able to say that they didn't know, or have not heard of Him.  After all, that IS my job....to make sure they have heard of Him through me and not just the world, and whatever my child ultimately decides to do with God is up to him, but I have done my part in making sure he HAS heard.  My job IS to make sure my loved ones have heard the message of Jesus Christ!  It is my responsibility to make sure that as many generations can hear from ME that Jesus is alive, well and wants to bring EVERYONE everlasting love, life and tremendous peace through a personal relationship with Him.  No matter how old I get, this is my job!  My hope is that my kids will know, my kids' spouse will know, my grandchildren will know, my great-grandchildren will know and everyone I come in contact will know His power and might because I have not been afraid to preach the good news and they will have seen peace and miracles with their own worldly eyes in my life.  Then, I will know it's time to go on home; when my loved ones have heard. No one will wonder what this mom, wife, aunt, niece, cousin, grandma, or in-law believed, or where my faith laid for I pray it will be heard and lived right in front of their eyes.  The rest is up to God. ~

Cried Out

I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer. ~ Psalm 120:1

Do you ever feel like you have more unanswered prayers than answered ones?  The thought that I can bring my big and piddly problems to the Creator of everything is mind boggling.  Nothing can touch me that God hasn't allowed.  Nothing.  Sometimes the answer to our prayer is "no", but it's still an answer whether we like it, or not.  My daddy once told me, "God answers every one of your prayers.  It'll either be yes, not right now, or no, but even if it's not the answer you want, it's still an answer."  That has stuck with me.  I ask God daily for little things, and sometimes I shout hoping He'll get the message (by the way, he can handle your yelling) and hear my plea on the larger things.  I often come with a thankful, hopeful, blessed and encouraged heart, but sometimes I come so broken that I feel like I wither, wrestle and struggle for words when praying.  Each and every time I wait patiently and listen for the answer, even if it takes days, weeks, months and maybe even years, and sometimes it's not what I wanted to hear.  Each and every time, whether it has been a "yes", "not right now", or a down right "no", things have worked out proving once again, that I am not in charge, or control of my life.  But I know who is and I can count on Him to answer me always.  I just have to be obedient, quiet, and open up my heart to listen. ~