You are not old if you are a true Christian
Often, we meet strong Christians who, in the middle of their conversation,
say that they are old.
These precious people read the Bible daily and meditate on it.
They fear the Lord.
They are often intercessors,
praying for many,
praying for those beyond their family.
They pray for the Church, the body of Christ.
For their neighbours, believers.
for the persecuted church,
for children.
They may be in their 90s,
they may be above 100,
they may be in their 50s,
their age doesn’t matter,
yet the truth is, even if they say they are old, that can be far from the truth.
A person is called old by observation of his/her appearance.
If he/she is slow, weak in body, and does not have strength in doing routine things. The biological age rarely matters.
You may perhaps recall seeing 50-year-old people who appear older than 80-year-olds? Don’t we see 30-year-old people older than 50-year-olds?
As children of the Most High God, we better understand what God’s perspective of being young is.
1) God says that those who wait upon the Lord, those who hope in God
will gain strength and power. There is no age limit mentioned for the person waiting upon the Lord mentioned here.
Thus, irrespective of age, they would not be weary when they run. They would not grow tired when they walk. Here is the verse from Isaiah 40:31.
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired. (Isaiah 40: 31 AMPC)
Before coming to this verse, in Isaiah 40:30 we read God say that young men may become weary and may stumble, but those who wait upon the Lord, God treats them differently – yes, for all who wait upon the Lord – irrespective of age. This is the verse.
Even youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly, (Isaiah 40: 30 AMPC)
2) The Word of God is true. The truth of the Word of God is everlasting.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8 AMPC)
As the word of God is eternally true, the truth mentioned about the person who waits upon God is true.
3) Here are Bible-based testimonies of people who waited upon God and were strong. The first testimony is about Zachariah and Elizabeth.
Both lived a life of right standing before God. He was a priest. They were old, but were barren without a child.
They would have been in their 40s and 50s. Zach would have been in his 50s, as Zachariah was a priest. In a particular year, when it was his turn to minister in the tabernacle, he had an encounter with an angel. The angel told him that he and his wife were to have a child.
But Zachariah could not believe what the angel told. He held strongly to the facts – his advanced age and his wife’s age – which could have been beyond a typical childbearing age.
So Zac did not believe the angel, giving the facts (also called circumstances) a greater weightage than God’s promise through the angel. The angel “muted” Zac, so he could not speak.
And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” (Luke 1:18)
As expected, Elizabeth was pregnant. The child was called John, who later grew up to become John the Baptist.
When Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant, the angel of the Lord used Elizabeth’s testimony since she was barren and old, yet because of God’s word through the angel, she became pregnant, although odds were against this. Mary was certainly encouraged knowing this. Mary decided to visit her aunt Elizabeth and choose to stay with her, daily seeing and watching this miracle testimony as she was preparing to bring forth a child in her womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, which had never happened.
Here is the passage from the Bible showing the conversation between Mary and the Angel.
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:35-37)
I do not know if you are the Zachariah or Elizabeth who is to encourage a Mary by your strength and natural power in spite of your old age. Let God decide. But why not be prepared to be strong and active, even though the numbers in your age may be high?
So do not speak negatively. You are strong because you wait upon the Lord. Because you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour, you are righteous.
And because of the promise stated in blue given earlier in the blog post – Isaiah 40: 31- you are stronger than the youth.
4) Why does your casual remark about your age have an adverse result? Do you remember the fig tree that withered in the Bible? Jesus was eager to eat figs. He went to a fig tree nearby. He went along with his disciples. He did not find any figs on the tree.
Jesus told.
The next day, Jesus and his disciples were returning that way. Then his disciple said: Check this blog post tomorrow for further updates in this space.
