Encouragement for the Ages-Part Two

In the first installment of this article, I wrote that we are often guilty of believing that our present age is the ending stage of our life but with a little encouragement and as long as there is breath in our body, God still has something for us to accomplish.

Our problem is that we tend to believe that what God wants for us to accomplish is something big in the spiritual world. We would like to be a Peter or Paul, or some great evangelist, or pen the words to some new revelation of God’s Word for future generations. Some of us just might.

I believe that God has something for all of us but it is much closer to home. I believe that God wants us first to love Him, to accept Him as the One and Only God, a God that is so merciful toward us that He sacrificed His only biological Son (metaphorically speaking) to open the door for us to become His adopted children.

I believe that God wants us to be happy, that He put desires in our heart, and that He thinks of us as He did Job. When talking with whoever He talks with, He may say something like, “Have you seen my son or daughter (insert your name)? I am so proud of her; I really like how he has lived his life.”

God wants us to be happy accomplishing the things he put in our hearts. He gave us the mission to share the gospel of Jesus Christ but for most of us it is likely to be more related to the world we live in and with the people we interface with regularly.

Let me get back to my original theme.

I am sure 50 is not too old. When I mentioned that I was having second thoughts about going back to school because I would probably be over fifty by the time I graduated, one wise friend responded, “You are going to be over fifty whether you go back to school or not. Go for it.”

I often questioned myself, wondering if I was wasting my time. The answer is, “No.” It has been fifteen years since I earned my degree and it has been well worth it. It is more than just a piece of paper, it is a head full of knowledge that I didn’t have before. I better understand life, know a little more about what I want to do, and have a greater determination to enjoy life to the end. In addition it has kept me more employable.

Never underestimate the value of learning. Always be the one in your group that is soaking up all the knowledge you can. There are no boundaries around what you should go for. Your desire may be to be a tournament fisherman, a charter boat captain, a nurse, a doctor, to regularly break par on the golf course, to be the smartest grandmother a child has ever hugged, and the list is endless. If you want it, God must have put it in there, go for it.

I am going to continue through different stages of life in future posts and wind up with something really special looking back at age 20, a time in life when many of us first believe we are failures.

by Wayne Brady 3/18/2013