It’s a Sunday night in June before I head out before dawn Monday morning to catch a flight to Norway…one of multiple trips I continue to make to Europe every year to work with a European organization that serves the nations with a church planting process that is actually working! It’s a work I cherish, a work I am privileged to have, and beyond our wonderful family, something that gives my life great meaning.
But somewhere in these few days as I have been preparing, I’ve been hearing the word “sidelined” and thinking of so many who are not able to go as I am. Physical, mental, emotional issues hold older people back from crossing borders or going where they don’t speak the language. People need to be by their physicians, that adventurous spirit we once had, our “get up and go” has faded and it’s much more comfortable to stay put. Or in more serious situations, illness limits our mobility, mental deterioration makes it impossible for us to manage in strange and new places, or we find ourselves tied with so many responsibilities in our daily lives that leaving is impossible.
Whatever the case is in these situations that are out of our control, imposed on us by circumstances, leaving us no choice but to allow our world to continue to diminish in comparison to how we once lived, these situations are real and legitimate…and we ask God to bless us with patience, endurance, compassion and hope.
However, as I pondered the word “sidelined” I also considered how a retirement mentality can do a number on us and we can give in to the words echoing in our heads that tell us life has changed and we are no longer capable – in whatever way – of living boldly and with great gusto. We begin to limit ourselves to what is comfortable and possibly even acceptable to our families and friends, what seems appropriate for our age. We measure our efforts in different ways, taking into account all sorts of “what ifs” as we make plans to step out of our every day routine. We self-impose a sideline situation that doesn’t have to exist except in our own minds.
I love the statements that go something like “60 is the new 50” or even “70 is the new 60”, giving us an extra decade of health and energy to experience this amazing world and listen to God’s call on our life. I’m working hard to listen to the right voice in my head as I certainly can’t stop the days and years from adding on to my age. And what is that right voice? As always, through all the decades of life, it’s God’s voice, the one that speaks truth, that one that gives us wisdom, that one that calls us to remember that retirement is to be submitted to Him for His purposes, the one that answers all of our questions, even the new ones of a new age.
Listen for His voice, follow His calling, refuse to sideline yourself in these years where we have so much to give to others before we do find ourselves legitimately sidelined by all the twists and turns of the one life we have to live.
Don't Waste Your Retirement 