Friday, December 16, 2011

Symbol 13 - Age of White Hair

Follow me
Decorate
My Jesse Tree
Started December 4th!

Isaiah 46 compares the idols of Babylon with the tender care of God, in carrying his people from the beginning of life and delivering them safely in His arms to the end of life.

"Listen to me,
all you who are left in Israel.
I created you
and have cared for you
since before you were born.

"I will be your God
throughout your lifetime--
until your hair is white with age.
I made you,
and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.

"To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?

"Some people pour out their silver and gold
and hire a craftsman
to make a god from it.
Then they bow down
and worship it.

"They carry it around on their shoulders,
and when they set it down,
it stays there.
It cannot even move!
And when someone prays to it,
there is no answer.
It has no power
to get anyone out of trouble."

Aging puts us on notice that life has a beginning....a middle...an end.  The older we get, our outward appearance and our physical being deteriorates.  The mirror shows us noticeable wrinkles, it shows us an 'interesting' re-distribution of our body fat, along with thinning and graying hair.  We are easily offended when we're not asked to join the younger crowd anymore, and the word "old" blares like a trumpet in our partially-deaf ears.  We worry about something happening to our life partners, leaving us to fend for ourselves.  We become increasingly curious about death and what happens to us after we die. When we reach our 60s, a whole bunch of new challenges jump out at us.  Our world tips upside down, and we shouldn't expect young persons to see the world through our failing eyesight.

This Old Testament story reassures and comforts.  God authored us.  God wants to finish our story.  It is only He who knows our path and the obstacles that He chooses to place in it.  All we have to do is keep trekking along, taking what comes, and making the best of it.  We need not be anxious about our remaining days or years.  God will provide all things necessary for us to reach the last page of our life book.  It is He who will know when it's time for the Amen.   

Isaiah 46 eases our fears about aging and all that goes with it.

The symbol I place on my Jesse Tree today is.....

Age of White Hair
Isaiah 46:3-7