Reluctant Retiree

Family members and friends never seem to be at a loss for words of wisdom. On top of that, so called experts love to tell us what we should be doing and warn us against things we shouldn’t do. If you take the time, you can find advice on any subject through social media. Then, of course, we have politicians telling us what is right and wrong. How can we know what messages we should use and which ones we should reject?

James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” God is the source of all wisdom and His wisdom always meets these standards. Judge all speech and instruction by these qualities. If what you read or hear does not meet these standards, reject those words. If speech is not gentle and promote peace, it is not wisdom. If what you read does not provide mercy and promote good works, it is to be rejected as unwise.

These standards of wisdom also apply to our own speech. To speak words of wisdom our speech must be gentle, impartial, promote good and peace, and be full of mercy. Ask God to help you change your speech patterns to meet the requirements of wisdom.

James 2:17 says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Confronted by the truth of these words, I wrote this prayer:

Father, I say that you are good, but I grumble and complain rather than giving thanks.

I say that I trust you, but my heart grows anxious at times.

I say that you answer prayers, but I fail to ask you for what I need.

I say that you have all power, but secretly worry that you won’t act on my behalf.

I say that you are my Lord, but sometimes I rebel against your wisdom.

Forgive me that my actions so often negate my faith and your wisdom.

Give me a pure and undivided heart, Oh Lord. Let me be a fragrant offering of Jesus to you and to the world. Amen.

I have pursued many honors over the years, but achieved very few. I have never been awarded a Most Valuable Person reward. I never received praise from the top executives of companies where I worked. I have never been recognized on the news for some great achievement. Most of us have not been honored in these ways. Even if we have, the honor only provided fleeting gratification, so we moved on to the next pursuit of recognition.

James 1:9-10 says, “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.” We are therefore warned regarding boasting about worldly honors. These honors come and go with little long-term impact. However, receiving the honor of being called a child of God provides rewards throughout eternity. The humble child of God will receive glory, brought into God’s presence forever. The proud person will be humbled before God’s judgment. Offer yourself to the loving God and trust Him to make you His child.

This morning I woke up at 1 AM. I laid in bed an hour more before finally getting up. I am used to getting up early, but not this early. Today will be an interesting day. I am not sure how well I will function on such little sleep.

Psalm 121:2-3 says, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” God is not like us. He doesn’t need eight hours of sleep per day. In fact, He never sleeps at all. He is our 24 hour protection, keeping our feet from slipping away from Him, if we will trust Him to do so. He is always at the ready to provide the help we need. Just make the call to His protective service, that is pray, and He will be on the spot with just the right help.

After the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the phrase “Boston Strong” was printed on t-shirts, banners, and buildings. After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston hard, the phrase “Houston Strong” was seen everywhere. I believe that the word strong was meant to mean resilient, determined, and willing to sacrifice. But as with all popular expressions it has morphed over time to imply self-determination, pride, arrogance, and invincible. That change is unfortunate, because these new meanings are simply not true. We are not invincible and as much as we want to deny it, we are not the sole determiner of our fates.

Psalm 95:6-7 says, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand” The time has come for us to worship God as Creator and Sustainer of all things. The time has come for us to acknowledge that we are not strong, but instead we depend upon God’s power. The time has come for us to kneel before God and not to stand in false hope.