Reluctant Retiree

Every day, except Sunday, I walk 10 to 12 miles. Even though I am older now, my steps are usually firm and steady. I did have a short period a couple months ago when I tripped and fell 3 times. Unseen cracks in the sidewalks and trails took me down. I am trying to be more careful now.

Most of us want our walk through life’s obstacles to go smoothly. We want to avoid the troubles that can trip us up and make us fall. Unfortunately, troubles come to all of us, but there is a way to limit the damage.

Psalm 119:133 says, “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.” By asking God to fulfill His promises to us, He will lead us in a steadfast and secure path. He can keep any bad habit or sin from ruling over us. These are the things that can trip us up and make us fall. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

We can’t afford to be tripped up by things that can have a lasting impact. Therefore Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Put off the things that might trip you up and ask God to give you steady feet.

When I was growing up, two groups of people wanted me to hangout with them. First, there were the tough guys. They sought attention by constantly breaking the rules. At younger ages, this meant cursing, lying and petty thefts. The other group was the so called “good kids”. They weren’t particularly righteous, but rarely got into trouble.

I chose to hangout with the good kids. It wasn’t that I was a good kid, but rather that I was afraid of getting into trouble. Again, I didn’t do a lot of kind and good things, but I did avoid trouble, for the most part.

The Bible speaks about the importance of choosing our friends carefully. Proverbs 12:26 says, “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” If our closest friends are living in righteousness, they will guide us in the same direction. However, if our closest friends are living wayward lives, they will lead us into evil. It is difficult to minimize the impact that our closest friends will have upon us. We will tend to become like them in many ways. Choose your friends carefully and wisely. Your friends will affect how you live.

I woke up this morning feeling weak. My morning walk was much shorter and I am having trouble motivating myself. I don’t know why I feel this way. I got plenty of sleep. Perhaps it is jetlag. So far I don’t think it is anything serious.

If you are like me, we face times and tasks that we just don’t feel we can handle. They may be problems we face or some new life obstacle comes to our path. We feel like we need additional strength and abilities to solve the problem and move forward.

Even the spiritual grant, Paul, faced similar situations and conditions. How did he address this situation? In II Corinthians 12:9-10 he wrote: “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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Following Jesus causes us to live contrary to our culture. Culture says that we can do anything if we put our mind to it. Sounds good but it is contrary to what God says. He says that He will provide the strength we need, but only when we acknowledge our own weakness. We neglect God’s power when we work in our own strength. He perfects His power where we are weak.

Suddenly a dolphin pops out of the water next to the boat you are in. Or a player makes a diving catch at the ballgame you’re attending? Or your child takes his or her first steps. Then somebody exclaims, “did you see that?” Everyone whoops, claps and laughs in shared enjoyment of a wonderful sudden event.

But how do we feel when we’ve somehow missed these spectacular moments. We can’t share in the excitement and feel left out. We are saddened by our exclusion and misfortune. God is doing wonders all around us and all the time.

We often do not feel the enjoyment and excitement of these wondrous works, because we’ve missed them entirely. Why? I would suggest that our eyes were not open in a sense. You see, our eyes are not open to God’s wondrous activities unless He opens them. Our ears cannot hear His voice unless He opens them. Our hearts are not open to following in His steps unless He opens them. The psalmist understood this as he wrote “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

If you are missing the wonderful works that God is doing all around you, ask Him to open your eyes, ears, and heart. You will see things that you’ve never seen before. You will hear things beyond what you’ve heard before. You will go to unexpected places. It is an adventure that you don’t want to miss.

In the news this morning the story of another “influencer” dying while taking the ultimate selfie was reported. In an effort to garner more attention, she took too big a risk and lost everything. Many people are desperate to get attention and be famous.

The lure of celebrity is strong and the avenues to gain attention are numerous. All you have to do is post some amazing photos, outlandish opinion, clever video or wild stunt that attracts enough attention to make you feel famous. The pull of celebrity causes people to take great risks physically, emotionally and socially. But failure to gather enough followers often leads to depression and disgrace.

Jesus chose another route entirely. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus chose the path of humility and servant hood. Yet, even today He is more well known than all the celebrities of the world put together. The next two verses in Philippians give us the truth of the impact of His humility and obedience: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Humility leads to exaltation in God’s hands. We are called to submit to God and humbly serve others, as Jesus did. Trying to exalt yourself leads to destruction.