I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
I once read that as we age there will come a time when we have nothing left but Jesus. As I get older, I can attest to the fact that we continually have to relinquish control over more and more of what we value most. Physical strength. Mental sharpness. Friends and loved ones who get sick or pass away. Vocations that we are no longer able competent to handle. The list can go on and on and on. Relinquishment and aging go hand in hand.
Another saying I’ve never been able to shake (nor do I want to) is that if you can’t get over, under, or around a particular obstacle (like aging for example) you might as well negotiate with it. Excellent advice. In order to let go with good grace, I’m learning to hold everything with a looser hand. I recognize that today’s good health, mental awareness, treasured relationships, and workplace opportunities are going to end at some point. Which is why I’m trying to look way ahead into the far distant future and give God the okay the relocate me if needed (can you hear God chuckle?)
Relocate. The very word can summon up negatives images of boxes, moving vans, and for sale signs. But it doesn’t have to be so. Relocate can be revamped into something far more positive…and promising. I’ve known folks who have to relocate every few years and love it. Though the concept is foreign to me, I want to emulate their spirit of adventure. New people. New experiences. New sights, smells, tastes, and sounds. New can be a very good thing.
Relocate doesn’t have to mean downsizing and giving up what matters to us…rather, relocation can enhance our quality of life. We aren’t necessarily taking step backwards, we are proactively stepping into a future more suited to our changing life and lifestyle. Life is always in motion. So why not begin adapting our thoughts to the possibility of relocating when the time is right?
Precious few individuals begin and end their lives in the same location. Those who do are the exception rather than the rule. Change. Moving. Relocating. Relinquishing. It’s all a part of living a full life. None of us can turn back the clock and retreat backwards in time. All of life moves forward. So must we.
Change. Moving. Relocating. Relinquishing. Let’s stop the negativity cycle that has laid its grip on our hearts and minds when we consider these parts of this life’s events. Instead, let’s accept the fact that God has designed our lives so that we enter this world completely dependent upon the care of others and most often will leave this world in the same way. Let us also seek the eternal perspective that Christ frequently taught throughout Scripture that when as a man gives up his life (or control over it), he gains it back big-time. In the topsy-turvy spiritual realm, relinquishment is always viewed as a positive, life-giving act of service to Him (and the rewards are literally out of this world.)
Rather than waste today fretting about what hasn’t yet happened, why not learn to increase our trust quotient with Christ’s perfect care for today and the unknown tomorrow? Though it’s true that with aging comes relinquishment, the fact is, the more we rely on Christ as times goes on, the more He becomes our everything. I do believe that as we grow older we feel our limitations more keenly. However, what we fail to realize is that with every strength, choice or option we give up, Christ Himself more than makes up for these losses with who He is. Christ becomes our strength. Christ becomes our hope. Christ becomes our heart to heart confidante. Christ becomes our purpose for living. Christ and Christ alone.
Read more on Patheos – Seek. Understand.
