EVEN TO YOUR OLD AGE, GOD WILL SUSTAIN YOU

EVEN TO YOUR OLD AGE, GOD WILL SUSTAIN YOU
Tuesday, February 6, 2024 by DEBBIE W. WILSON

Categories: devotional / GUEST AUTHORS / TUESDAY'S TREASURE

TUESDAY’S TREASURE

Anyone witnessing my struggle to heave a suitcase into a plane’s overhead bin wouldn’t believe I was our 5th-grade class’s arm-wrestling champion. The legs that earned me a blue ribbon for speed in my 6th grade city-wide relay competition and scaled trees with ease, almost failed me when I climbed a stepladder with full hands.

When did I quit being fast, strong, and young?

Aging brings limitations and taps fears when our limbs—and mind—lose the speed and strength we’ve counted on. Small tasks feel like heavy lifts. Some friends had an experience that reminded me how the challenges unnerving us don’t surprise God.

Our weaknesses don’t limit His strength.

Doug slipped during a vacation and injured his back. Instead of getting better, his pain grew worse. After numerous doctor visits and tests, he heard the news no one wants to hear. Cancer. Of the bones. He needed back surgery.

The surgery left this formerly active husband and father with a back brace and a cane. His wife struggled with responsibilities he’d previously carried with ease. The pain of losing the life they’d taken for granted sometimes boiled over in frustration.

One such day, my friend fumed as she hurled boxes that contained a lifetime of accumulated junk and memories into the dumpster at the local junkyard. “Why didn’t we prepare for old age before it was so hard?”

In her rant, her keys sailed with her belongings into the huge dumpster. My friend’s frustration turned to desperation—and then to God. “Lord, forgive me for complaining. Please have mercy and rescue my keys!”

Halfway down the deep bin, the keys dangled from protruding trash. There was no way she could reach them or safely climb in. She looked around for help and noticed two burly men. “Please, would you crawl in and rescue my keys?”

One man fished out a long pole with an attached magnet and snagged the keys. “No problem.”

Sometimes sickness, weakness, or life drops us into the middle of quicksand.

Frustration and fear grab our ankles and pull us under.

Who can save us? Where can we turn?

Have your limits or circumstances raised fears for your future? No one can predict every trial. But we can prepare ourselves by abiding in the One who is our strength. The One who numbers the hairs on our heads and rescues lost keys will carry you.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs; I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Is. 46:4 NIV).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your promise never to leave or forsake me. I will trust you to rescue me in my stumbles and carry me when I can’t walk.

ABOUT DEBBIE W. WILSON

Debbie W. Wilson is an award-winning author, Bible teacher, and former Christian counselor who speaks and writes to connect fellow sojourners to the heart of Christ. She and her husband lead Lighthouse Ministries, a non-profit Christian counseling and Bible teaching ministry. Debbie still says, “Y'all” despite time in Boston, the Midwest, and Southern California. Her family, which includes two grown children and two mischievous standard poodles, calls North Carolina home. Connect with Debbie, find free resources, and learn about her books, including her new release Little Strength, Big God at debbieWwilson.com.