Reluctant Retiree

Right now I am suffering with tooth pain. It is amazing how this affects the whole body. Because of the pain, other parts of the body are affected. My jaw has tightened up and now those muscles are sore. The same is true of my shoulder and back muscles. One part of the body affects others with its hurting and with its health.

I Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” As members of one body, the body of Christ, what we do affects the other members of the body. If we are hurting, the other members also suffer and come to serve the hurting. We are all blessed by God with certain gifts or abilities. If we don’t share those gifts with others, we all miss out on the blessings.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you receive certain benefits from the body of Christ, but you also have a responsibility to that body. You receive the compassion of the other parts of the body, along with the shared blessings of others. You should also share your blessings with others and build up the body of Christ.

I hike almost everyday on the nature trails of this area. Most of them are relatively flat as I live in Indiana. Most days I can complete my 7-8 mile hikes with few problems. But some days it just feels like I cannot go on any longer. It is easy to feel weak during some of these hikes.

Habakkuk 3:19 says, “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” Hiking is one thing, but life hands us many more difficult situations. Some of them we think that we can easily handle them in our own strength. But sometimes the situation is just too hard or we have become too tired to deal with it. That is when the Lord eagerly desires that we trust in Him. He is much larger than any giant task that we can come up against. He wants us to face our giant in His strength. Even though we may not be fleet footed in the area we face, He can make us as agile as a deer and as strong as an ox. Even though the task before us may feel like a mountain, He will lift us up to reach the summit and pass over it.

The next time you face a mountainous task or problem, trust in God’s strength instead of trying to climb on your own. God may remove the mountain, but He may choose to reveal His strength in you as you climb to the summit.

I hike nature trails almost every day. I love enjoying the outdoors and nature. God has revealed Himself to me in many ways on these hikes. One thing I have noticed is that I never see the whole trail at one time. Sometimes I can see more of the trail than others. How much I can see depends on the twists and turns of the trails and the obstacles in my way.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God promises to lead us in the way that we should go. But He doesn’t reveal the whole path beforehand. Generally He gives us only enough light to take the next step. Why doesn’t He show us the whole way before we begin moving? I can think of at least two reasons. First, if we saw the whole path beforehand it would probably frighten us. We will probably need to take risks that we are not comfortable with and do things we believe are beyond our abilities. Secondly, He doesn’t reveal the whole path so as to cause us to trust Him. He wants us to take the first step believing that He has the next step under control. We can trust Him as we remember that He is good, He is able, and that He has always been faithful to us in the past. God has amazing things in store for us if we will only trust Him one step at a time.

Things don’t always happen when we want them to occur. Even when we have right motives, events don’t proceed as we would like sometimes. This frustrates us as we have trouble patiently waiting. Even when we have a good idea when something will occur we don’t like the waiting. For instance, babies are generally born nine months after conception. We all know this and understand that we will have to wait nine months. But that doesn’t always keep us from displaying impatient behavior.

Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” I don’t pretend to know what factors constituted the fullness of time for God to send His Son to die for us. I do know that He demonstrated that we cannot be saved by our own righteousness and works. Jesus was born of a woman under the Jewish law, thus showing us that the law or religious practices could not save, but only God can redeem us. God paid a precious price for our redemption, the death of His Son. But God redeemed this death by resurrecting His Son. By doing so, Jesus overcame death and is able to give us new life, eternal life. We can be adopted out of the family of death into His family of life eternal. We need only to believe and trust in Him.

In a good family, each member is honored. While each member has different roles within the family, all are valued. Love is universally shared. Everyone encourages and does not condemn the others. While personalities and attitudes vary among family members, the contributions of each member is praised and uplifted.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ are adopted into God’s family as sons and daughters. God calls His children beloved and draws them into an everlasting love. We may look different and behave differently, but we are counted as valuable members of His family. We have received the blessing that Abraham received by faith and are joint heirs with Christ of all the Father has to offer His children.

Galatians 3:28-29 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” In God’s family we are truly one. Each receives the blessings of God and is never condemned.