Aging
I was just talking to some of the men from the Tuesday Men’s Bible Study as they were leaving the church building, and the conversation came around to the aches and pains of life. We all agreed that our bodies don’t do so well if they hit the ground. Back when we were kids, or when we were teens, or even in our early 20’s, we remember having a much more “elastic” body. We could fall to the ground and it was no big deal.
Growing up, I was a soccer goalkeeper. I would throw my body around all over the place. No big deal. But back in the winter of 2023, after so many seasons of coaching soccer, I decided I wanted to try to play again. I signed up to be on a random team, as a part of the men’s league at Salmon Creek Indoor. Of course, I planned to play goalkeeper. And I paid a price. I cracked a rib, tweaked my wrist, had a permanent open wound on an elbow, and more. I had to sleep on the couch for months. My kids were legitimately worried for me every time I left the house on those Sunday nights to go to my game, even to the point of shedding some tears.
It was an 8-week season, and I bailed after 6 weeks. I could still play, though I certainly wasn’t nearly as agile as I had been when I was younger. But every week I would stand in the goal, feeling all sorts of stress. Stress that my next dive to the ground might be the one that really broke something more significantly (I guess I didn’t consider a cracked rib to be that bad…).
For the better part of our marriage, Leanne and I loved to play catch with a softball in the backyard or at a park. And then I injured my rotator cuff and lost that ability, too! I can’t even play catch anymore! I don’t care much for these aches and pains and body breakdowns of aging.
Our earthly bodies do face decay. We can’t outrun it. But we have a promise from the Lord of eternal bodies that will not experience decay and will not break down. In fact, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 tells us all about our future bodies that will be “buried in brokenness but raised in glory”, and “buried in weakness, but raised in strength.”
Our aging is a reminder, for the believer, that this life isn’t all there is. There is life beyond this life. Eternal life. Neither our bodies, nor our minds, will break down. This is just one aspect of the good things the Lord has prepared in eternity for His children. And for some, they will not experience death at all. But rather, in a blink of an eye a trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised, and those who are living will be transformed. Oh, what a great hope! Come, Lord Jesus!
Pastor Ryan Donovan
Categories: Evergreen Connection