The Giant of Aging

Day Nine: The Giant of Aging - Fear of Getting Old


Scripture readings:

Psalm 90:10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.

(Note from Tom and Lisa: Don’t be discouraged! Read on!!!)

Joshua 14:11 "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.”

Joel 2:28 "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. “

Today’s giant is the Giant of Aging. No one really looks forward to getting older, right? I’m marching rapidly toward the big 5-0 in years, and Tom is perilously close to 60! Yikes! We decided to start today’s devotional with a sobering verse about what the Bible says about how many years we can “expect” to live. We do not want you to get discouraged by reading the first verse, but it really is pretty much what our life expectancy is, according to those who keep track of these things!

But hang on: In the second verse quoted here, it isn’t the more well-known warrior Joshua speaking; it is Caleb. Do you remember Caleb? He is that great warrior who served alongside Joshua, was one of the 12 men sent ahead to check out the Promised Land by Moses. At age 40, his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the huge grapes, the land flowing with milk and honey, the lovely lush landscape. He saw opportunity. But reporting back to Moses, all the other spies were intimidated and protested that Canaan was too populated with giants to risk forging ahead. Only Caleb said, “We can take this land.” He was steadfast and undaunted by the size of the inhabitants. Forty-five years later Caleb tells Joshua that he is STILL ready to possess the hill country that the Lord had long ago promised to him: “I am still as strong as the day Moses sent me out.” This attitude pleased the Lord: “Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly” (Joshua 14:24). What a cheerful and resolute attitude toward life!

And in the third verse, the prophet Joel predicted that one day a new Spirit would be poured out, and that old men would dream dreams. This prophesy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:16-21), when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in a great wind.

Joel and Caleb are two Biblical heroes who did not get defeated by the Giant of Aging. They did not let the threat of advancing years deter them from dreaming dreams and pursuing goals for God. Isn’t that encouraging?

This past winter I too was encouraged greatly, when I attended the funeral of my great-aunt Ruby. Ruby was my dad’s aunt. Not a misprint: my DAD’s aunt! How awesome! My father will be 80 years old this year. How many 80 year olds can say that their aunt just passed away? She was in her mid nineties and has an incredibly large, strong, loving and spiritual family. As I looked around at all the family members in attendance, I realized once again how my family has been given the gift of longevity. My dad, Bob Cross, is from a family of six children – all but one are still here! My dad’s mother lived to 96. My mom’s mom lived to 92. Then, climb up my husband’s family tree and you will find that both of his grandmothers lived into their nineties. Tom’s aunt Anna Julia, though, wins the grand prize, as she will celebrate her 102nd birthday this May! Can you believe it? If we take care of ourselves and the Lord wills it, one of us might hit three digits! Whoo-hoo!!

More important than the gift of years, is that the gift of salvation and evangelism “runs in the family”. Several of my cousins are evangelists. Tom’s grandfather was a preacher and his second cousin is a missionary doctor who “just” left the mission field in Africa in his mid eighties. We are so encouraged by this legacy. As our years increase, we are seeing that the seeds of living strong, living long and not just for ourselves, have been planted in both families. This is truly a gift for which we are both grateful.

My prayer for myself, my family, and for all of you is that our age will be just a number. My hope and prayer is that we will not let the number on our driver’s license determine our desire, our passion for soul-winning. Let’s not allow the giant of aging to keep us from dreaming dreams. Let us be like Joel. Let us use our years to our advantage as we seek to gain wisdom and to gain souls for the Lord’s kingdom. As we gain in years, let us gain physical and spiritual strength like Caleb.

Prayer: Help us, Lord, to gain in the knowledge of You as we grow older. Help us, Lord, to teach others about You. Lord, give us more years so that we can do more for Your kingdom. Lord, if You will grant us more years, we will seek to use them for Your glory and not our own. Help us to use the years to build up Your kingdom and not to build up houses or trophies for ourselves. Thank you Lord for the gift of life!

Slay that Giant: Join the Nursing Home team on a visit to the Falls Village Nursing Home on any first Sunday of the month. We visit with some amazing people there. They would love to be encouraged by a younger brother or sister in Christ.