Reluctant Retiree

I don’t know if your area is the same as mine, but an awful lot of people don’t social distance or wear masks in public here. Maybe they feel that they are invincible.

For me, the choice to wear a mask and maintain proper social distancing is a matter of simple kindness. I would feel terrible if someone caught this awful disease from me. After all, I could spread the disease when I am asymptomatic.

I see spectacular acts of kindness all the time, especially now days. But it is in the small things that we can be unkind to others. Why not endure the small inconvenience of wearing a mask to show kindness to others. Pass on kindness while not passing on a disease.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 ESV

On what basis do you select who you will vote for. Is it strictly based on what party they belong to or how they vote? Do you vote based upon their ethnicity, gender, wealth or lack thereof, or even their looks?

I vote and choose leaders based upon my perception of their character. I want my leaders to display integrity. Our political leaders are rarely beacons of integrity these days, so my choices are admittedly limited. Further complicating the search for integrity is the politicians’ focus on destroying each other.

I want my leaders to act and vote in integrity not just along party ideology. Do the right thing, not the party thing!

In the next election can we find people of integrity to run our country? I suggest that we diligently search for this type of people, even if they are not currently running for office.

I have discovered that one of the great benefits of retirement is the chance to slow down. We rush through our lives without taking the time to evaluate all the activity or our involvement in them.

Furthermore we don’t take the time to evaluate ourselves, asking questions like;

Am I the person I want to be? If not, what’s keeping me from being that person?

What is my purpose? Do all these activities lead me to fulfilling that purpose?

What do I want to accomplish in my life? How far along am I in accomplishing these goals? Are these even worthy goals to seek?

What do I want for my family? Am I helping them get there?

If we don’t take time away from our busyness to think about these things, how are we ever going to get any answers or direction.

Retirement has given me the space and time to think about these things and more. However, now many opportunities have been missed to get the answers I needed and do something about it. I trust that you will not make the same mistake. I hope you will slow down and evaluate your deeper life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

The winds are strong again today, as much as 35 MPH. Those winds push you over at times.

Public opinion is sometimes the same as the winds. It can change quickly and push you into believing many things, most not true.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes characterized as a mighty wind. After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples. He was described as a mighty wind and fire.

The Holy Spirit teaches Jesus’ disciples the truth and leads us in the ways of God. This wind is worthy to be followed and trusted. The winds of public opinion will generally lead into trouble and disappointment.

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:2-4 ESV

We are in the midst of a modified stay at home order. The governor has allowed some businesses to reopen. Under his current plan almost everything will be open by the end of May.

He did leave one significant caveat, however. People over 65 should still stay home. I would complain about age discrimination except I know that he is just trying to protect us. But this also means that we aren’t supposed to go to church even when all our friends return. I miss them already.

So what have I been doing. I believe that God has given us this time to focus on “first things”, the most important things. So I have tried to get to know Him better, seeking His presence. I have spent a lot of time reading His Word and other books that lead me to Him. My prayer and devotional life has improved with the extra time and opportunity.

None of these things would take place, however, if God wasn’t drawing me closer to Him by His Spirit. If left to my own devices I would probably waste time with games or something else.

However, my God loves me with an amazing love. My heart is drawn to that love and I want to know Him better. The only way to do that is to spend time with Him. So I pray, listen and read.

I want to be careful here to say that I don’t just want to know more about God. I want to know Him better. That requires my heart to seek Him by interaction with Him.

So I don’t count this time as lost, by any means. In fact I believe this time has been used for a higher purpose.

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek’.” Psalm 27:8 ESV

Every day several acts of kindness are highlighted on our local and national news. People seem to be doing all manners of nice things for family members, neighbors, friends and even strangers in need. I am sure that you also have done some very nice things for others.

This begs the question, why? Why are people motivated to do these kind things for others? And perhaps why now more than ever?

Obviously the need is greater now than other times. This is expressed by the first responders’ brave and selfless service, disregarding the danger to themselves and maybe their families.

However, the question of why goes deeper. What motivates us to be kind and do things for others?

Perhaps we were just raised this way. Perhaps we too have suffered and we want to help other suffering ones. Some of us just can’t resist the downcast faces of those in need.

All of these are great reasons to help. However, I would suggest that there is always a bit of selfishness involved also. It may be hidden deep within us, but all of us go into these acts of kindness asking what will I get out of this. In our best moments our selfishness is hidden, even to ourselves, but is there nonetheless.

That is why we are not always kind to others. It is why we often burn out when we try to be consistently kind over time. We simply cannot muster selflessness over time.

To consistently show love and kindness we have to constantly be filled up with kindness and love from others. That truth, in and of itself, demonstrates our selfishness. We need to be shown love to be able to give love.

There is only one way to constantly receive love, in order to be able to give love to others. We have to tap into an abundant, never ending supply of love. The only such source of love is God. His love is overflowing, steadfast and eternal.

To tap into this love we have to give ourselves to Him, holding nothing back. We have to confess that we have gone our own way and turn from those ways to follow Him.

If we do that, He gives us His abundant love and enables us to be the kind, loving, selfless people we want to be. We will still have our failures, but we can return to Him and find His love is still available to us.

“See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are his children.”

My wife and I live in large apartment complex at the northern edge of a small city. The complex is sprawling and quite scenic. There are lots of trees, several ponds and fountains.

This complex is a nesting area for ducks and geese. So every year at this time, these birds set up camp and start families. It is fun to watch the new families trek by our patio.

I have noticed a difference between duck families and geese families. Geese families will walk by with one adult in front, leading the way, and another trailing behind to keep track of everyone. Duck families, on the other hand, travel around with only one adult. Male adult geese are far more protective of their families than their duck counterparts. Trust me. You do not want to cross an adult male goose at this time of year.

Along with the ducks and geese, we see many other types of birds frequenting our patio. Robins, wrens, and cardinals like to perch themseves on our patio. I love the color and variety that they display.

I also like the varieties of their songs as I walk around the neighborhood. Each has a distinct musical call.

These discoveries, though simple and obvious to many, lead me to thoughts about the Creator. Oh, I know that it is not popular to speak about our world being created by an omnipotent being. I am sorry if that offends you, but I sincerely believe that God created our universe and I am in awe at the wonder of His creation.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 ESV

I understand that weather reports are vital in the midwest, where I live. But the weather reports on our local stations seem to be overdone.

Not only does the weather person give forecasts 3-4 times per half hour, but they give teasers before each segment and they repeat themselves frequently during the segments.

I know the forecasts are important but what causes such redundancy. Do the viewers have short-term memory or listening problems? Are the reporters paid by the word? Regardless, I become easily tired by the repetition and turn off the news pretty quickly, missing other important information.

At the same time I am amazed at how much I need repetition to learn most things. I try to learn from my life struggles but often find myself having to learn the same lesson over again. I will discover an idea, only to soon forget it until I am reminded again.

I know that I am not alone in this struggle. The Bible tells the stories of how God taught the Israelites the same truths repeatedly. They too seemed to make the same mistakes over and over again. While they suffered the consequences of their sins, God revealed His amazing grace and patience with them.

I know that He shows the same grace and patience with me as I often fall into the same traps repeatedly. I am so grateful for His faithfulness and grace.

“and count the patience of our Lord as salvation” 2 Peter 3:15 ESV

Sand on the beach is free. Sand for playgrounds costs $25 per bag. Sand glued to a piece of paper and sold in hardware stores as sandpaper is priced at about $5 per sheet. Sand formed into silicone for computer chips is much more pricey.

What determines the price of sand, its value? Its value is determined by the owner’s purpose.

Does this same principle apply to you and me? Yes!

God created us in His own image. He has given each of us a purpose for our lives. We are each to display His love in return to Him and to others.

Why don’t we do this very effectively? Because we can only give out what we have received. In other words, if we have not received God’s love into our lives, we cannot give it out. Furthermore, if we believe that God gives us only a little love, then we can only love a little.

What you believe about God’s love for you tells the rest of us all we need to know about you. Your character is completely dependent on your response to God’s love for you. How you will spend eternity is also dependent upon your response to His love.

What wiil you do in response to God’s abundant, steadfast, and eternal love for you?

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 ESV

Most of my blogs are directed to the general public. This one is directed toward Christians specifically.

II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

This verse contains a great promise, but it is conditional on the hearts and actions of God’s people. We must full heartedly do four things:

1. We must humble ourselves, after all anything else is sin.
2. We must pray, knowing that we can do nothing on our own, but God can do all things.
3. We must seek His face, depending fully on Him with our very lives.
4. We must turn from our wicked ways. Note that He is telling believers to turn from our wicked ways. Before we can ask God to heal our land, we must put aside all sin from our lives. That’s you and me.

Let’s begin today. Let’s humble ourselves before Almighty God, pray for personal and national healing, sincerely seek God, and repent from all our sins. Then we will see healing and be able to sincerely speak to our neighbors about healing.