Reluctant Retiree

Now that I am well over 65 years old, I have to concern myself with Medicare and additional health insurance coverage. The problem is that I don’t understand insurance information at all. So this is yet another area where I have to rely on my wife. She doesn’t enjoy looking at insurance coverage details, but she does understand it. You have to know the benefits that are covered under each policy and be able to project your health concerns over the coming year to determine the best policy for you. So every year my wife determinedly does the research and finds the best policy for us. She is very good at this despite her distaste for the process.

Psalm 103:2-5 tells us to praise God for the many benefits He gives us and then lists some of these benefits. It says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This is quite a list of benefits. Unlike health insurance, there is no need to compare benefits because these benefits are not offered anywhere else. You can trust God that He will cover your life with every benefit you will ever need.

The only cost to receive God’s benefits is faith. We need to believe that God is and that He has provided for our salvation and redemption through the sacrifice of His own Son. We must agree that we need His salvation and offer ourselves back to Him, allowing Jesus to be both Savior and Lord. Why wait? These benefits can be yours today.

Competition in the marketplace is called the Rat Race. To get ahead, people at times ruthlessly promote their own agenda. They are willing to knock someone else down so they can further themselves. Winners sacrifice much to move ahead, receive promotions, obtain financial benefits and gain notoriety. The benefits of winning can be spectacular, but the costs can also be great. Families and relationships are set aside, personal health and well-being suffer, losses mount, and emotions become frayed.

Not everyone gets entangled in the Rat Race. Some are able to mitigate the dangers by calling on inward strength and resolve. Sure, they may not rise as fast or as far, but their rewards are certain and everlasting. For these people, families and relationships thrive, stress related health concerns decrease, their outlook is positive and hopeful, and they don’t lose the things that are really important to them.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek,for they shall inherit the earth.” So according to Jesus, gentleness and humility bring great rewards. This thought is contrary to our culture’s belief, that to get what you want you need to assert yourself and your agenda. However, Jesus says that greater benefits are obtained by considering others as more important than our agendas. Treating others with respect and care will assist us receive inner peace and joy.

Since none of us are naturally gentle and humble, we need to find a supply of these qualities elsewhere. Jesus said that He is gentle and lowly. However, He is more than a model to imitate. He wants to be the source of gentleness and humility in our lives. To receive these blessings from Jesus, we need to humble ourselves before Him by acknowledging our failures and trusting Him to change us.

If I remember correctly, in the story of the Grinch who stole Christmas, the Grinch’s heart is portrayed as cold as stone. His cold heart causes him to act harshly toward others, going so far as stealing Christmas presents and decorations. Then he is moved to kindness in giving to someone else. Suddenly his cold heart is warmed and he goes about sharing kindness with everyone.

The Grinch’s story is a classic one because we all want to be shown kindness. While we all want to receive kindness, we are not always quick to show kindness to others. We need a heart transplant. We need a warm heart to replace our sometimes cold heart.

Unfortunately we are who we are and it is difficult to change. Selfishness and self-centeredness urge us to protect ourselves, keeping us from reaching out to assist others. We don’t realize that we hurt ourselves by failing to give kindness. Proverbs 11:17 says, “A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.” Besides the obvious benefits our kindness gives to others, kindness also benefits the giver. When we sow kindness, we will reap kindness and our hearts will be inevitably warmed.

We will need help in becoming consistently kind people. It begins by tapping into the inexhaustible well of God’s kindness toward us. Ephesians 2:7 says, “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” We must accept God’s kindness in the salvation He provided in Jesus. Then our new hearts are filled with His kindness, and the kindness pipeline is opened for us to receive and pass onto others. Our new hearts pour out the love and kindness of God.

Life can feel random at times. Why do circumstances fall like they do for us? Why does it seem like certain people have all the luck? Why do bad things keep happening to me? Why am I even here or why was I born?

It may seem like our birth was some random event. Of all the people in the world, why did our parents meet and have children? Why couldn’t I have been born to richer, better looking parents so that I could enjoy those benefits?

Your birth and my birth were not random events. The Bible says that before the creation of the world, God knew each of us. In fact, the Bible also says that He designed each of us in amazing detail. Not only did He create our bodies, but He also designed and created our minds, personalities, and spirits. When He created us, He had specific purposes in mind for us, as well.

Esther 4:14 says, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther was a Jew but was queen in another country. Her people were threatened and these words were spoken by her uncle. She was in a position to save her people, but it would be at great risk to her own life. She did step forward and her people were saved.

Esther was created by God for this specific purpose, among others. She bravely fulfilled God’s purpose. God created each of us for His purposes. We will miss out on the fruitful and meaningful lives He designed for us, if we do not first yield to Him. By continuing to reject God by living according to our self-centered ways, we cannot understand nor fulfill His desires. Today is the day of salvation. Do not harden your heart and reject God’s plans for you. Accept the free gift of salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul had many attributes that he could boast about in his day. He was highly educated, fervently religious, blameless under his religion, and part of the upper class. Yet, he did have his weaknesses. Physically he wasn’t much to look at. Despite his high position in society, he wasn’t a great speaker. As a young man he was far from correct in his religious pursuits, although he practiced his religion strictly.

When God met him in a vision on the road to Damascus, Paul became a changed man. Where previously he had great confidence in himself, now he recognized his weaknesses. Where he was previously arrogant and full of pride, God humbled him. Instead of hiding his weaknesses, he began to let God use his weaknesses.

In II Corinthians 12:8-9 Paul wrote, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” You see, Paul understood that we cannot avail ourselves of God’s power when we are confident in ourselves. However, if we will humble ourselves and trust in God, we will experience the fullness of God’s power.