Isaiah 46:3-4 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” NIV
Today’s scripture reveals that Israel was in a tight spot, but God reassured them that he who had upheld them since their conception, he who had carried them since their birth, even to their old age and gray hair, could be counted on to sustain and rescue them. What an absolutely wonderful promise to hold close to one’s heart.
Getting older can also place us in a tight spot. Each year things which hadn’t seemed to be changing at all now catch me unawares. My hair is actually turning grey. The third finger of my right hand has a cyst on the tendon which causes the middle joint to lock at the most inconvenient times. One of my hips is forever scolding me when I rise up and sit down. And as if these things aren’t enough, my wrinkles are multiplying at an alarming rate and my skin sags in the most disconcerting places. Mmmm…gray hair, wrinkles, sagging skin….just a minute….maybe I’m not getting older at all. Maybe I’m simply becoming an elephant.
As much as I laugh about these things, they also concern me, especially as I know so many people who have to make decisions about their older parents or even themselves. Many out of necessity are seeking the convenience and security of senior’s apartments or the aid of nursing homes or other care facilities. I don’t want to reach this point. I don’t want to have to choose to reside or be placed in such a home. In fact I find such a thought not only alarming but frightening. I don’t want to think that perhaps one day I will have to leave my home and family to live alone with a bunch of old, or worse yet, sick and old fogies. In fact I don’t even want to get any older and possibly have to depend more and more on somebody else taking care of me, after all, when we’re honest with ourselves, who of us do?
And yet it happens. Things change, we get old, and we may have to make decisions or live with others’ decisions which we don’t like. But thanks be to God some things don’t change. For God who has upheld us since we were conceived, and has carried us since our birth, even to our old age and gray hairs he is with us and will sustain us. He who made us and carried us and sustains us will also one day rescue us from the bondage of these ageing bodies to dwell eternally in glory with him where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away. And that’s definitely a promise to hold close to one’s heart now and forever more no matter how old we are.
Prayer: Father God thank you that you remain the same, yesterday, today and forever and that your promises are faithful and true just as are you. In Christ’s name we give you honour, glory and praise. Amen.
Lynne Phipps
Atlin, B.C.