Reluctant Retiree

Every day I can find good reasons to be fearful. Circumstances are beyond my control. We are living in uncertain times. Some kind of danger seems to be everywhere. The news is full of ominous events. Friends and family members are suffering. I don’t know what to do about so much of these things.

In the midst of all this turmoil, I find solace. God has given precious promises to guide me and see me through the foreboding circumstances that confront me. For instance, Isaiah 41:10 says, “fear not, for I am your God; be not dismayed, for I am with you; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

As a child of God, I can trust God to remain with me always. Because He is with me, I can know that He will strengthen me, help me, and hold me in His hands. He has more power than anything that might threaten me and He loves me. I have nothing to fear, because what can man or circumstances do to me?

Have you ever tried to make yourself go to sleep? I am not talking about casually going to bed when it’s time and falling asleep. I am talking about after a long hard day with the expectation of a busy and intense day to follow, and you know you need to get some sleep now. You lay in bed thinking about tomorrow’s pressures and try to put them aside, because you need sleep now. It is almost impossible to make yourself fall asleep. Just thinking about it keeps you awake.

I had this problem, but in a different way, last night. I had an appointment for a sleep study, where they watch you sleep and use electrodes to monitor breathing, etc. So, at the appointed time I was all hooked up and ready to go. Then all I had to do was fall asleep. I told myself to fall asleep and waited. Nothing happened. So I told myself to sleep once again. Nothing happened. This inward discussion went on for quite some time, until I got bored with the self-talk and fell asleep.

The same sort of thing happens when we try to break a habit, start an exercise routine, or just try to become a better person. We tell ourselves what we need to do and extend the effort, but fail and fail until we get bored and give up entirely once again. Our selfish and self-centered thoughts and desires usually win out over good intentions.

Paul describes how we find success in winning over our selfishness and self-centeredness. In Romans 8:1-4 he wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Paul is saying that before we come to Christ, we are subject to selfishness, doing what our self-centered thoughts tell us to do. We are, therefore, unable to overcome those thoughts to make changes that we feel we should. After coming to Christ, we are given the Spirit, who works within us to free us from selfishness and weaknesses. Then we walk according to the Spirit and not our flesh. The Spirit enables us to make beneficial and righteous changes to our lives.

Several months ago we went to Nashville to help people clear debris after a tornado ravaged the area. Qualified people cut down and cut up trees and other damaged items. Since I am not qualified to use a chainsaw, my job was to carry debris to the street to be picked up by city equipment. Our work helped people move to the next step of recovery.

As they were cutting the trees, several different levels of power were required to take the tree limbs and trunks to the street. Most limbs could be hand carried. Some larger pieces we had to put in wheelbarrows to transport. And still larger or more awkward pieces required a skip loader be used to move them.

All of us face struggles from time to time. Sometimes we can move forward on our own, though we may wish that we hadn’t tried to do so later. Other times we find some kind people to help us. And yet there are times when even the help of friends and family is not enough. We simply cannot find the strength to deal with our situation.

Colossians 1:11 speaks to those situations when it says, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” The power we need in these situations is the mighty power of God. His power is unlimited and always available to those who will put their trust in Him.

Struggles can teach us peace, patience, and endurance. Peace to trust God to work within our struggle. Patience to believe that He knows our troubles, and is working through the struggle for good. And endurance to follow Him through the struggles to the other side.

Governments make peace treaties with other governments all the time. These treaties bind both governments to certain actions and to keeping the peace with each other. Despite these mutually binding agreements, governments break these agreements often, returning to the state of hostility and tension between the parties.

Governments aren’t the only parties breaking agreements. Businesses unilaterally break contracts for more profitable opportunities. Athletes and professional sports teams break contracts to seek better accommodations. Spouses set aside the marriage contract for emotional and physical allures. People cut off long-term relationships over disputes and changing priorities.

When we are born into the human race, we inherit many traits and characteristics. One of those attributes is our sin nature, simply rejecting God ways to go our own way. Because we are in rebellion against God, we are His enemies by our choice and our nature.

The good news is that God has provided the means by which we can be reconciled with Him. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “For in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.”

We are unable to reconcile ourselves to God by any amount of goodwill or good works. Instead God initiated the reconciliation by giving His own Son as a sacrifice. As the verse says, He reconciled us to Him through Himself, providing the means and the agreement for peace. All that remains is for you and I to sign the reconciliation agreement by trusting in Jesus as our reconciliation.

When we speak about the attributes of people, we are referring to characteristics that they possess and have displayed. For instance, we may say that “she has a lot of patience”, because we have observed her in pressure situations. Or we may say that “he has a lot of love for his family “, because we have watched him in family surroundings. But we may also say that someone has anger issues, because we have seen them explode on occasion. It is fairly easy for us to separate a person from their attributes.

With God, we should not so easily separate His attributes apart from who He is. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Every morning, when we wake up, we can expect God to give us new mercies and steadfast love. The mercies are not new because He whipped up a new batch of mercy overnight. They are new because we need different kinds of mercy every day, for the new struggles and troubles we will go through each day. These mercies are not something that He possesses, they are, in fact, who He is. God is love. God is mercy. And God is faithful. These attributes, and many others, are who He is, not characteristics He possesses. He has always been love and mercy, and will always be love and mercy, because He is always faithful to His nature.