Turning 70 was a goal that I worked towards from the day I turned 69. Suffering through abuse as a child and teenager, I developed many faulty beliefs that propelled me through various difficulties as an adult. I discovered the truth about the Sabbath in July, 2011. That’s when my journey to unravel my faulty belief system began in earnest. I was 64 years old.
I had made some progress by the time I turned 69 but, in my mind, not enough. That’s when I set my turning 70 goal. I gave myself one year to find the rest of the healing that I so desperately longed for, to find the perfect peace that God promises in His word.
It turned out that one year was not enough. It would take three. So as I set out to live today as a Birthday Lady, my heart and mind and soul and strength are filled with praise for God our Father; for Jesus our Saviour, our Redeemer and Friend; and for our blessed Holy Spirit, for truly, the Lord’s healing lasts!
I must testify that being in my seventies is a joy that I never expected. Even now, I am not certain that I can put it into words, but I do know this … aging is not a burden. Oh I know, the mirror shows the wrinkles, the grey hair, a body whose size and shape is changing with the years. I can’t run as fast, or lift the same weight that I used to. But, in His mercy and His grace, God has given us everything we need to face, with dignity and hope, the death that our physical bodies will undergo.
For me, my reality until that time comes is this: Everyday, I am breaking new ground. Everyday, my thinking shifts as I run the race, as Paul the Apostle described our journey as created beings.
Every day, I am seeing how and when to stand aside so that those who are younger have the opportunity to use their gifts. Every day, I am learning how and when to change my approach to situations so that I, and the people around me, can retain the perfect peace that God promises as we work through our difficulties.
Every day that we are walking in the Lord’s will for our lives we will learn something new about how much He loves us. With all that I have learned, I know that I am only scratching the surface of how deep God’s love is.
The depth of God’s love is immeasurable. The time that eternity will provide for us to glimpse its depths makes eternity all the more precious.
When I was younger, many people tried to help me know that God loved me, but I just couldn’t understand it. All that changed in 1985 when my birthday fell on Good Friday. Suddenly, I got it. The anniversary of my birth collided with the anniversary of Jesus’ death on the cross for me. Finally, I understood.
There is a song in our Church Hymnal that says it all for me. It’s number 154.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God.
All the vain things that charm me most – I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far to small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Seven or beyond seventy, may life stop being a burden, and become the joy of His salvation as we see each day as the opportunity to be breaking new ground.
May God guide us as we plan to serve as His instruments of peace, and spread the Gospel by our actions rather than by our words.
Happy Birthday to everyone … belated to some, early for others. I thank God that He created each one of you. You are the workmanship of His hands. He has counted every hair on your head, and even knows how many you have lost!
Every day, may we love Him more, and thank Him more, and simply be at peace in His loving arms. Amen.
Ann
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