So…today is the first day of my retirement. The days stretch before me with endless possibilities. It is exciting. When I get up in the morning, I get to choose what I want to do or not do. The problem will be all the possible choices that choosing what to do on any given day may not be easy. Should I garden, go to the beach, read a book, pick up and travel somewhere… Of course there will be days I have scheduled. Days when I have appointments of one kind or another. Days when I may be volunteering my time. And there will be days when I have to clean, do laundry, mow, weed, maintain something, cook…why is it we never get to retire from doing household chores?
But that reminds me, we also do not retire from the work we are called to do as Christians. There is no place in scripture that even mentions the word retirement. So, what do we do when we retire from our jobs and move into our “retirement” years as it pertains to our life in Christ? Well, we continue to use the gifts God has given us!
Stop and think about the ages people were in scripture when God used them. Abraham was 75 when God called him to go…no directions given just go and God would direct him along the way. Abraham was 100 when he became a father and his wife was 90! I really hope God does not ask me to become a mom again at 90…Or Moses who went before Pharaoh when he was 80 to ask that the Israelite nation be set free. God calls people of all ages from young to people who are mature in their years. No matter what our age, we are all called to serve, and we are never called to retire.
Except, sometimes we are called to stop doing one type of ministry as God has need of us to do another type of ministry. In order to do a new thing, we have to stop something to have the time necessary to accomplish the new thing…whatever that might be. It has to do with capacity. We can only do so much, and we need to stop something to allow room for the new. We need an ending. And endings allow new beginnings to happen. That means it is important when we move into a new season in life, to begin thinking about what we don’t need to take with us. What needs to be purged? What is nothing more than excess baggage?
In every season of life, we should be asking the questions: Where is God calling me to serve? What do I need to stop in order to serve where God is calling me?
May your season in life be filled with the joy of serving God who loves you.
Beth
Beth's Blog 