SPEAKING TO THE SOUL

Acts 7:23 When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.

I recently turned 46 years old and am starting to feel my age. I’ve started to worry about my future. What more can I accomplish in the years left? Sometimes, I wonder if my best years are behind me. While we may be tempted to think our best days are past, God always has other plans.

This reading from Acts gives me hope. Stephen reminds us that Moses didn’t even start the Exodus until he was forty years old! A woman from my church named Carol Boulette can teach us something about this too. Carol retired from the Red Cross—at the age of 80. In retirement, she stayed busy organizing blood drives and working regularly at our local food pantry. She was 96 when she was named the Three Rivers Lions Club Citizen of the Year.

How can God use you, even in the fall and winter seasons of life?

MOVING FORWARD: Instead of fretting about lost youth, today give thanks to God for the wisdom of years and pray for a heart open to new ways of doing and serving.