You are never too old for God to use you!
I am 66 years old and enjoying retirement. Two years ago I would have told you that I knew what I would be doing for the rest of my life. I was faithfully serving God within a local church as a teacher. Something I felt called to do and was excited about. And something that others affirmed was my calling.
But something unexpected happened. The opportunity I had as a teacher came to an end, at least for a time. What do I do now? I must confess that I am still working through that. But just as suddenly as the classroom teaching opportunity came to an end, several opportunities to write, like this one, opened up. It seems the Lord may be closing and opening doors in my life at a time when I would have thought all the opening and closing of doors was over.
The Calling of Moses
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’” (Acts 7:33-34 NIV)
But that makes the calling of Moses even more significant for me. When Stephen is on trial in the 7th chapter of Acts he spends some time talking about Moses. For the first 40 years of his life he is raised as royalty, learning how to rule. But then his life is upended and for the next 40 years he finds himself herding sheep in the wilderness. I can imagine that Moses, at 80 years old, expected to spend the rest of his life as a shepherd.
But at 80 years old God called Moses into a new life. One that God had been preparing him for the previous 80 years. But still totally unexpected. And one that Moses was really not interested in. Moses was sent back to Egypt to confront the Pharaoh of Egypt. Demanding that he free his Hebrew slaves and allow them to leave Egypt.
In the end Moses finally accepted that his days of herding sheep were at an end. He walked through the door God had opened for him. And spent the last 40 years of his life herding the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the wilderness on their way to Canaan.
And Today?
I think at least one lesson we can learn from this is that we are never too old for God to use us. And to potentially use us in new and entirely different ways. It may well be that all that came before was just preparatory. That God has been honing you into a finished tool to accomplish his ultimate task for your life. Remember that it took God 80 years to prepare Moses for the task he was called to perform.
Be willing to embrace change rather than resist it. Trust that God knows what he is doing. Whether or not you see purpose in where God has you today, know that the sovereign God is in control. Be a willing tool in his hands.
