Forty and Free
Yesterday morning the Today show took a break from reporting on the unprecedented results of the presidential election of the previous evening to highlight the newest revolutionary product in age defying skin care. It struck me that a new facial cream actually seemed to warrant news time on the morning after one of the biggest elections of our time. In hindsight I guess my surprise was unwarranted being that our culture is so obsessed with looking young. I have a soapbox verse that I seem to work-in every time I get the opportunity to speak. The truth of Romans 12:2 encourages us not to conform to the way the world thinks, but to let God change the way we think about things. Too many of us are letting the world influence and dictate to us the way we should think about age. The world through all of it’s advertisements on TV, the internet, bill boards, and the countless magazines greeting us each time we check out at Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or the grocery store sends us the message that only the young and beautiful have worth and value. It was recently pointed out to me that even the Fox News anchors look and dress like young super models, and that not long ago educated well spoken women used to have opportunities to report about the events that were effecting the world whether they had an appearance that turned heads or not.
Our cultures obsession with age and looking young are in clear opposition to God’s truth. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Grey hair is a crown of glory, gained by living a godly life.” And here I thought a crown of glory was gained by $150 and a trip to the salon to get the newest coloring technique and those long flowing waves I can never seem to replicate with my flat iron. There’s a crown that never perishes or needs a root touch up that is gained by walking with the Lord day in and day out and living the godly life the Spirit leads us live.
Job 12:12 says, “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.” That means the longer we walk with the God the more wisdom we gain, and the more days we have the opportunity to live the more understanding we have to offer. It’s the plan of the enemy for us to feel this constant pressure to achieve and accomplish all that we can while we are young because if we don’t hurry we will run out of time; we’ll be all washed up. I’m going to turn 40 this weekend and the cultural joke is that “I’m over the Hill” “R.I.P”. I reject that. There is no “over the hill” for me because as a born again believer in Jesus Christ I’m living for eternity. I’m on a steady incline to my mountain top experience. Only God knows the days He’s laid out for me but if I were to live 81.2, the average American woman’s life expectancy, then I have over 40 years of adulthood left. God doesn’t want me to sit on the sidelines as though my best years are behind me, He wants me to keep dreaming, to keep influencing, to keep learning, to stay in the “make a difference” game. “The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong…They will flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they will produce fruit; they will remain vital and green” (Psalms 93:14). That’s God’s will that we keep flourishing that He keeps strengthening us to produce fruit no matter our age. His will is to reveal himself to us more and more, and for us to know Him more each year which should only enrich our lives. His will is to keep using us to spread His love and the gospel to those around us until the day we take our last breath on this earth. There’s no tag out or all done, no washed up or irrelevant when we hit a certain age; in Him we remain vital and green. So here’s my tagline instead of “over the hill”, I’m “forty and free”. Free for an eternity to dream, to spread the Word. Free to enjoy every day and every gift, free to rest in His love and the value and worth He’s given me despite what my scale says, what my age is, or what my mirror reveals.
2016/11/10 at 10:43 pm