The Advantages Of Getting Old And Tired

I don’t want to sound pathetic.  I’m not that old and I’m not that tired either, but I’m older than I used to be (and so are you) and I’m less energetic than I used to be (and you probably are too).

This world which we all live in views this as tragic.  Youth is seen as good, old-age as bad.  Energy is seen as almost all-important. Even those of us who see ourselves as being “Biblical” in our worldview and values have imbibed much more of these attitudes than we’ve realized.

A couple of podcasters I watch begin almost every segment they record with several “cracks” about the age of one of the podcasters.

Humbug.

A slow read (don’t make it a fast one) through the Bible, especially the Bible’s Book of Proverbs, reveals a very different set of values.

Age is highly prized. Having made it to our allotted “three score and ten” (Psalm 90:10) with the wisdom that comes from listening to God and living life His way, we are expected to view our life-experience as being more valuable than a series of advanced degrees, as something to be proud of, not embarrassed about (see Proverbs 20:29, 23:22). Instead of touting our college degrees behind our names, perhaps we should put our decades: “Brian A Thorstad, 70’s.”

Provided we are listening and learning along the way, aging brings the highly prized asset of wisdom (Proverbs 4:7), and wisdom itself delivers many blessings: fewer mistakes, fewer messes, fewer apologies, fewer injuries to ourselves and others, increased humility and  increased ability to help others and advance God’s kingdom.

As to infirmity, or simple weariness, while these are not highly prized in Scripture – “Blessed are the exhausted?” – human strength and health isn’t highly prized either. Look at this:

“No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.” Psalm 33:16

 “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.”  [Picture a top-notch running back.] Psalm 147:10

What is highly prized is the strength which God is willing to share with the young and strong, but which He is more apt to shower upon those who are weak and humble enough to know that it is God’s strength that they really need.  (And the aged are more apt to know that they need it.) Let’s let Isaiah and Paul weigh in on this:

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall [like that great running back mentioned above, but at the end of the game]; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31

 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I therefore will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then, I am strong.”  II Cor. 12:9-10

With that said, here are two advantages of being old and tired, as I’ve discovered in my own life and work:

1. Aging has helped me to realize just how brief a human lifetime really is. “Teach us to number our days,” Moses prayed in Psalm 90. Make “the most of every opportunity…” Paul exhorted in Ephesians 5:16, because the days are “evil” (which may mean “short”).

I’d like to think that I’ve been living for the “long-term victory” of eternity in God’s Kingdom for most of my life, but life’s brevity has come into sharper and sharper focus over the last few years. God has shown me that I should transfer my knowledge and wisdom (such as it is) into the lives of younger servants of God, as much as possible.  I’ve been blessed with some wonderful people to build into, so this has been a great joy (see Philippians 2:17,18).

2. Diminishing energy has helped me to realize how dependent I actually am on God’s strength. “When I am weak” Paul said, “I am strong.” He really meant that.  We’d all prefer to have God’s strength accompanying our strength.  “Me at my best plus God’s blessing.” But it doesn’t usually work that way because, as my mentor told me, “God doesn’t share His glory with anyone.”

As a result, I do a little less, sleep a little more (see Psalm 127 on the foolishness of not taking the time to sleep), pray a little more, and at the end of the day, I think that I’m bearing more fruit (John 15) than I ever have.  And you know the formula from that great chapter: the more fruit that is borne the more joy that is experienced.

So would I like to be younger?  Only if I could return to twenty or thirty with the wisdom I have now.  Would I like to have more energy?  Same answer.  Energy, without the wisdom of humility, only brings the ability to make more mistakes faster, like the fictional coffee advertisements I see in gift shops.

So I’ll take the advantages that I have; the advantages of getting old and tired.