Reluctant Retiree

When we went to live in Nepal for several years, we sold our house and gave away most of our possessions. I was amazed at the freedom that this provided. I no longer had to mow the lawn and we no longer had to occupy so much of our time with maintenance of what we owned. We had much more time to do what we thought was important.

II Corinthians 1:12 says, “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” As we pass through life, many activities and material possessions compete for our attention and energy. They can distract us from the important things of life. The apostle Paul encouraged us to keep our lives simple so that we are not distracted from a sincere faith and godly living. The world encourages us to acquire possessions and do it all. Life is better when it is simple and we can concentrate on the important things in our lives by the grace of God.

I am not intelligent because I have a university degree. I am not wise simply because I am now old. What is the true gauge of wisdom and intelligence? How can we know if we have wisdom to share or just some knowledge to puff up our egos?

Proverbs 18:15 says, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” Notice that when God speaks of knowledge and wisdom, He speaks about the ear and the heart, not the mind. Simply learning through education or reading does not make us wise. Engaging in intellectual study and debate does not increase our wisdom. Instead, God says that we become wise when our hearts learn righteousness and godliness through experience. We gain knowledge that is beneficial to us and others when we listen to God’s truth and apply it to our lives.

Don’t seek to impress others with what you know? Please God through applying His wisdom to your life.

Recently I have noticed a trend in the conversations that I have had. No matter what personal experience I speak about, in response someone will inevitably speak about their similar experience. Sometimes this information is shared to help me consider options in ways to process my experience. However, most of the time it feels like the other person is merely saying, “I can top that”, as if to say their experience is so much more significant than mine.

I think that we sometimes approach God in the same way. When we pray, we sometimes demand God’s attention and speedy response. Almighty God cannot be approached in such a manner. We must humbly come to Him, acknowledging that He is worthy of honor, and call upon Him in reverence. Then we must meekly listen to His Word and genuinely submit to His instructions.

Malachi 2:2 says, “If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.” God gives strong warnings to anyone who will not listen to Him and does not honor Him by doing what He says. We lose many blessings when we insist on our ways over His.

It amazes me how quickly I can judge someone else by their appearance. Some people I assess to be good people just because they look nice. Other people I would call bad people simply because they appear rough around the edges. These judgments are unfair and are likely incorrect. Even if I see a nicely dressed person doing a good deed, I am probably incorrect in my assessment because I cannot know the intentions of their hearts. Similarly, if I see a poorly dressed person do something that I deem as harsh, I am again probably wrong in my judgment because I know nothing of why they did what they did.

II Peter 3:10-11 says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness.” Jesus will return soon to bring judgment upon the earth and all who live on it. Every deed that we have done in secret or in the light will be exposed. We will not be able to hide anything from Him. He knows the intentions of our hearts as well as the actions we have taken. We must be found to be living holy and godly lives, eagerly anticipating His return and doing the good works that He has purposed for us. Living holy and godly lives begins with trusting in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Then we can walk in the light of His wisdom and by the strength of His might.

Our culture is built upon the idea that we never have enough. No matter what we own, we want more. No matter how high we get promoted, we want more. No matter how great of a vacation we just had, we can’t wait to make the next one even better. We are not satisfied with our cars, houses, jobs, bank accounts, spouses, nor opportunities.

While we want more, thinking it will make us happy, frequently it only adds to our frustration and stress levels. Have you noticed that everytime we acquire something new that it just adds to how much time we have to spend taking care of our possessions and increases the anxiety over them?

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” God has a better plan for our lives. If we will simply trust Him, He will provide everything that we need. He will probably not give us everything that we want, because that will take our hearts away from Him. But He will give us the things that we need. He doesn’t just give us the material things we need, but also things like love, protection, security, hope, mercy, truth, salvation, redemption, and real joy. And He gives us the promise that He will never leave us. You will never find a better deal anywhere. So let’s stop seeking to acquire and start resting in God’s promises.