The excerpt below was taken with permission from Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book Sem Fear of My Age, future version of Faithful Editor.
About a year ago, I realized there was a strange lump on my ring finger. “What is it?” I asked myself. It bothered me and I tried to move to find out what it was. Then, at a conference I attended, I spoke to a rheumatologist: What is this strange lump on my finger?I asked.
- He raised his hand to feel what it was and said.
- “It’s a piece of Heberden.
- It is part of aging; Is it just a calcified spur of articular cartilage?”.
“Ah, is that part of aging? Should that make me feel better? Was the intention to make me feel better?
The truth about our condition is that we all age, even if you haven’t already taken a strange hit, but we’re not just getting old. We are on our way to an eternity that will begin with a transformation from which we can only imagine how it will happen.
During my research for one of the chapters on women helping women, I found the following impressive statement: “I am writing this book for an extremely personal reason. I have a terminal illness. You’re invited to read for the same reason. You also have a terminal illness?[I]. 2 Do you often think about this truth? All lies will be exposed; and the truth will become visible.
If you’re like me, is it easy to forget these truths?Until something happens that reminds us, my memory doesn’t work, my children are thirty years old or I receive unwanted news that my father or mother is sick, which refocuses reality. of life, which was a little upside down on my conscience, my attention. Life won’t always be what it is today, I’m finished, I’m fragile and I’m addicted.
Have you ever stopped to think about the carelessness of young people?I look at the young men in my ward on a skateboard and be perplexed; they are young and consider themselves invincible, they do not feel the pain and rigidity that are part of my mornings, and the facts about the future are as unreal for them as the idea that there will be a day when skateboarding will no longer delight them. They take silly risks because they don’t know the truth that my little nodule Heberden taught me: life is short, life is precious and I’m vulnerable.
Isn’t God good? He could have left us without these changes, saving us from seeing us walk to our final destination until we reached a point where we would discover that everything has come to an end, instead, he put signs in the way. prophet around the corner with his prognosis: “The end is near!”, the Lord put a warning on all of us: “Think of what you do!Prepare for eternity!?. Did the Psalmist pray that the Lord would teach us, tell us our days to reach a wise heart?(Psalm 90:12) Is it not interesting that to learn to count our days it becomes necessary to attain divine wisdom?Comment Joel Calvino:
“Always the most skilled in mathematics, and one who can undertake research accurately and accurately reach millions and millions, is nevertheless unable to count eighty years of his own life [?] Humans measure all distances outside themselves, they know how many kilometers the moon is from the center of the Earth, what space there is between the different planets; and, ultimately, they can divide all the dimensions of heaven and earth; where while, however, they cannot count seventy years in their own case.
In several parables, Jesus lovingly warned us against the madness of not understanding the brevity of life; in one, he warned that we should always be attentive and prepared for his return; in another, he warned that the owner of the house, who said to himself, “I am financially safe and I can rest,” at the moment when I least expected it, should account for his soul. The parable of the rich man who lived selfishly, but was tormented afterwards, while Lazarus reveled in pleasures he never knew, also serves to teach the wise: Look at the Word!Read the headlines about your body changes!
The Apostle Paul also warned his readers: “Therefore, beware of your way, not as fools, but as wise and redeeming time, for the days are bad. Therefore, do not become foolish, but try to understand what the Lord wants?(Ephesians 5. 15-17).
Can you see what the subject is? The truth about eternity and how quickly we approach eternity obscures each person’s heart, which can reveal a foolish heart or a heart of wisdom. Without the intervention of the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Christ, all that would be revealed to him. We would be foolish, but with God’s help, we can take seriously the warnings He has put in the path of wisdom. How will we know this wisdom? It is expressed in words like David’s:
Let me know, Lord, my end and the sum of my days, so that I may recognize my fragility. You have given my days the length of a few meters; in your presence, the end of my life is nothing. In fact, every man, however firm, is pure vanity. In fact, man passes like a shadow; in vain he cares; collects treasures and doesn’t know who’s going to take them. And what can I expect, Lord, what can I expect? You are my hope (Psalm 39:4-7).
You and I need God’s help to obtain the wisdom mentioned by Jesus, Paul, and David. There is a deficiency in our understanding: not only a lack of understanding, but a voluntary reluctance to understand the true state in which we find ourselves. him to make our hearts humbler and create in us a desire to love the truth.
There will be an end to our days here on earth. Even the stupidest of us recognize this truth. Yes, yes, we think, do I know my life will ever end?But it won’t be today. This kind of meaningless thinking manifests itself in hundreds of ways in our daily lives. Do you have a will? Seventy percent of people don’t.
The life we now live in the flesh, at best, is a simple breath. The Holy Ghost inspired James, who said that life is “like a fog that appears for a moment and then dissipates. “Next time you get out of the shower, look in the mirror. Then open a window, watch the steam move away, and ask God for wisdom. Think, “That’s the days of my life. “
All the vanities of the world that currently catch my attention are nothing but futility. Think about the last time you were upset, angry or worried. How important are these things in the sky?Does it really matter if your dining room wall is too yellow or if your investment interest rate has fallen by 0. 25%?As Mother Teresa said: “From the point of view of heaven, the most miserable life on earth would have been simply a bad night in a roadside hotel elsewhere. “
Only our relationship with Heavenly Father through Christ will last. The truth about the temporal nature of our lives and the relationships in today’s life would despair us if there was no relationship that would last forever. In fact, our relationship with God through Christ already existed in the father’s heart before our birth, before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1. 4), and it is the relationship that will continue forever.
[i] Peter Kreeft, Love is stronger than death (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992), xv.
[ii] Jean Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms, v. 3. Sao José dos Campos: Editora Fiel, 2009.
Fearless of My Age was written for women in the middle of their lives. As we age, we wonder about the many changes that are happening in our bodies, our homes, and our pace of life. How do I make the necessary adjustments?How to manage menopause, empty nest and free time for retirement?Elyse Fitzpatrick shows us how our faith can be fundamental to responding to all these changes.
With humor, transparency, and biblical wisdom, it helps us see that God’s plan in guiding us through these changes is to sanctify and glorify ourselves.
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By: Elyse Fitzpatrick. © Loyal Ministry. Website: ministeriofiel. com. br Extract with permission. Source: Excerpt from the book: Elyse Fitzpatrick, Our Age: Everything has a time.
Original: Our age: everything has a certain time, © return to the gospel. Website: voltemosaoevangelho. com. All rights reserved.