Aging Gracefully? We Don’t Have To!

Aging gracefully is an oxymoron. These two words sound good, but they don’t fly! This statement must have been spoken by someone trying to make peace with father time.

I will not do it. I am kicking and screaming all the way! It is not necessarily vanity; it goes so much deeper than that! The realization of passing from one season of life to another is always a bit shocking.

We are born in the season of spring. We burst forth on the scene like a seed that pushes forth from dry ground and displays itself as a beautiful flower.

As we become young adults we enter the season of summer. This season is wonderful, spectacular, full of joy, youth, and vitality. We are in our prime. We stand like beautiful oak trees that sway in rhythm with the summer breeze, full of dreams and plans that nothing can deter.

As the warmth of summer begins to fade, the leaves on the trees begin to change into the colors of fall. The same thing begins happening to us as a few strands of grey begin to slowly infiltrate our hair and tiny lines begin to form around our eyes, subtle reminders that summer is ebbing away.

The winds of change rustle the treetops as the leaves fall to the ground. It must be traumatic for that once proud oak to suddenly become naked and its beauty gone with the wind. Fall is in the air and a crisp cool morning tells us so.

As we awake on these cool mornings, we feel a bit stiff and realize that we are not jumping out of bed the way we used to. The realization of a paradigm shift in our life begins to become oh so obvious.

The good news is this. We now have a decision to make. We can allow this thing called “age” to rule us, or we can reverse the curse. We can bind our Heavenly Father to His Word and the promises He has made to us.

God has promised “to renew out youth like the eagles.” Is 40:12 He has promised to “restore to us the years the cankerworm has eaten.” Joel 2:25 He has promised to give us the “mind of Christ.” 1 Cor 2:16 He has promised us that “we can be fruitful in our old age and bring forth fruit.” Ps. 42:14 God has given us the option to believe His word, and through that “our latter rain [or life] is full of His life and of His favor.” Proverbs 16:15

The choice is ours. We can choose to live the winter season of our lives as majestic mountain peaks. The snow that so gently graces the mountain tops only adds to the glory of God’s creation. So may we also be. Full of timeless wisdom, knowledge, and strength that those young saplings have yet to produce. So share it freely with those who will listen. They will not see an old person. What they will see however, is a hero of faith that they want to be just like when they grow up.