Reluctant Retiree

Where do you put your valuables for safekeeping? Do you use a safe deposit box or a house safe? Or are you perhaps less fearful and more confident in your own ways of protecting your possessions. Do you, however, have the same degree of safekeeping for the nonmaterial things that are important to you? For instance, are you confident and secure in the ways that you are guarding your health? Have you done enough to protect your family? How we secure the things, speaks volumes about what is important to us.

Paul wrote in II Timothy 1:12, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” Paul had the utmost confidence that God was able to safekeep his life, his ministry, his safety, and his heart. God’s hands are mighty. Nothing has ever slipped through His hands once He has taken possession of it. And nobody nor anything can take something out of His hands. He is fully trustworthy. So we can trust Him with our lives, our hopes, our possessions, our families, and our salvation. He is able to guard all these things and more.

If you are like me, sometimes you lack confidence and sometimes you overestimate your abilities. Whether the task comes from the job, at home, some volunteer opportunity, or in a relationship, we all fail to correctly evaluate our abilities at times.

In Judges 6:12 an angel of the Lord speaks to Gideon. The angel has found Gideon hiding from the enemy in a winepress and says, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Now, Gideon hardly had the posture of a mighty man of valor. Nevertheless, the Lord had chosen Gideon to lead the army against the enemy. The key point, however, was the statement that the “Lord is with you”.

God chose Gideon for a difficult task, fighting against an overwhelming enemy. But God was equipping Gideon and would provide the power to defeat the enemy. The same is true for us today. God calls us to do His work, but at the same time, He equips us and provides the power to do the work. If we attempt to do the work apart from His power, we will fail and not bear fruit. With His strength working in and through us, we are the most powerful people on earth.

When God calls you to do His work, take courage in knowing that you are His child. In His name and for His glory He will empower you to do His work.

I don’t particularly care for driving long distances. For me, it is physically uncomfortable. For most people, it is difficult to maintain the alertness required for a long period of time. Our minds wander and our bodies tire. But we must maintain a high level of alertness to avoid the dangers inherit in this type of travel. Alertness can also serve us well as we see the wonderful sights that come our way in our travels.

Ephesians 6:18 says, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

As we go about our daily lives, we should persevere in alertness to identify the good things God wants us to do and to avoid the bad things that tempt us away from Him. How? By praying at all times. Having an attitude of prayer throughout the day keeps us in the presence of God and alert to His leadings. Prayer also makes us alert to the opportunities that He gives us each day to do good for others and honor Him. As we are following His leading daily, we are also alert to the temptations that try to attract us, but, in His presence and by His power, we are able to resist

Recently, we were in Erie, Pennsylvania, and went to the Presque Isle State Park. From the point on this peninsula, we could see far and wide over Lake Erie. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful view. We basked in the sunlight and enjoyed the peaceful lure of gentle sea waves. We could only imagine what was on the other side of the lake, as the horizon captured our attention.

I Corinthians 2:9 says, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” God’s ways are far beyond our own and His thoughts are far above ours. So what He has planned for our futures and for eternity, we can only receive small glimpses of His plan.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, we can know that in your future on earth and in heaven, God has prepared the best for you. Trust Him as your Heavenly Father to provide good things for you. In Jeremiah 29:11 God speaks and says, “For I k now the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

What is the most glorious place that you have ever visited? Name a location that has inspired you and brought you overwhelming peace and joy. For me, it is the ocean. As a kid in Southern California, I often went to the beach to relax, enjoy the waves, and find peace in the ocean views.

Revelation 22:1-2 says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city, also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

As those who trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, this is the scene that awaits us in heaven. The Lord has filled the earth with His glory, but what awaits the true believer, in heaven glory even surpasses what we find on earth. That is because we will dwell in the presence of God Almighty. All pain and suffering will be gone and He will heal us completely. Use the anticipation of this glory to motivate you to follow Jesus closely and to serve others.