1/16/22 by Larry Barker
The scriptures are clear, you are never too young to serve the Lord. God uses us in the midst of our inexperience, lack of knowledge, and not being ready for the assignment He has given us. But do we ever get too old for the Lord to use us? Never! Yet, we all wonder when is it time to step aside, retire, and not hold on so long that it begins to hurt the church or ministry? Actually, you cannot find retirement in the scriptures. Genesis 15:5 says, “He (God) took him (Abraham) outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and count the stars.’” Mark Batterson said, “If we are not careful, we stop gazing at the stars, and start staring at the ceiling.”
God loves using you before you think you are ready and after you think you are done. When you stand before the Lord one day, you will not hear Him say; well said, well thought out, well planned, or well-studied. What He will say is, “well done!” Christianity is about action and orthodoxy is having the right beliefs but orthopraxy is doing the right things. Dr. Dave DeVries reminds us in The Multiplication Workshop of the reality that you need all of the right ingredients. The Cross + the Culture – the Community = No Church. The Community + The Cross-Culture = No Mission. The Culture + the Community – Cross = No Hope.
In Genesis 15, God promises Abraham at 99 years old that He will keep His covenant and promise with Him. He takes him outside so that he will quit functioning only by what he could see in his tent and instead focus on the limitless vastness of the stars and His universe. Let’s refuse to just stare at our ceiling assuming that age, experience, qualifications, credentials, education (which are all important and good things) can limit our limitless God. Logic questions God but faith refuses to put limitations on God. Spiritual maturity is not determined by your
five-year plan but rather your ability to remain sensitive to the moment by moment nudges of the Holy Spirit.
Think about Abraham again. In Hebrews 11:8 it says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” At least I am not the only one who does not always know where they are going. The will of God is not always easily discerned and takes much prayer, soul searching, and a willingness to yield to whatever the Lord says. It is wrong to think that you will always know where God is leading you, what He is up to, and to know what He is doing. The scriptures are clear that we are to walk by faith and not by sight.
In his book, Younique, Will Mancini describes three ages where we are especially susceptible to crisis moments in discerning the will of God. Biologically we are told that we are at our peak in our early twenties. Yet, even at the age of forty, unless you are a professional athlete because you still have zeal and energy but much more experience and knowledge you are probably at your peak performance. Then when you get into your sixties your energy begins to drain and your days begin to be numbered. You now have far more opportunities behind you than opportunities that are in front of you.
Will says, “Fortunately, the Bible doesn’t view the trajectory of a person’s life as a ballistic arc to a pathetic crash. Rather, Psalm 92 promises, ‘The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green’ (Vv. 12–14, emphasis added). Picture life not as an arc or a bell curve but as a series of rising stairsteps.” Around the age of twenty, you begin to wonder what you will do with your life and you must decide to follow Jesus and His plan or pursue your own. Unfortunately, some get off track here.
Then you reach your forties and again you must decide to follow Jesus or will you chart your own course? Will, you passionately pursue God’s calling on your life or will you play it safe and pursue the comforts of this world as you become more financially secure. Mancini adds this, “At around age sixty people face one more crisis, this one having to do with their remaining years. It’s about whether their productivity is based on their activity or on their generativity—that is, how they’re preparing the next generation to carry on their legacy. The brilliant truth is that those who overcome this crisis impact more just as they begin to work less.
Are you willing to claim this promise, “they will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green?” Your impact in “retirement” or even in death can be even greater than all your life added together. Mancini continues, “Peak performance may be long gone, but peak impact is one step away.” You see at each crisis moment in your life whether, at twenty, forty, sixty, or eighty, you have a decision to make; will you remain faithful to the Lord and the leadership of the Holy Spirit? Every single day you will have the opportunity to decide whether you will choose the trajectory of the world’s picture of aging or trust that God meant what He said. There are no easy answers and discovering the will of God is not usually easy because we must pursue Him, seek Him, and keep knocking. The content from this article is greatly influenced by scripture, The Holy Spirit, and two great resources, Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson, and Younique by Will Mancini.