To Encourage You

Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

Aren’t you glad that the promises of God are for everyone who will trust in Him, no matter what?  There are promises for the young. We can assure little children as they struggle with their many fears, that God has told them, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).  He has filled His word with instructions for parents that will help them bring up their children in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).  He has given promises to the sick that He is the God Who heals (Exodus 15:26). Often that healing comes in this life, but if not, He has assured the suffering saint that if they continue to trust Him there is coming a time when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4).  But what I read in God’s Word this morning was particularly encouraging to me in this stage of my life.  It is a promise to those in their old age.  It’s hard to think of yourself in this way, don’t you think?  But as I have now reached 69 years of age, I know that what’s before me is most certainly a shorter period of time than what’s behind me.  And there are, of course, others in my life that are older than me – my parents, various relatives, and friends.  

As I look around, I see many in declining health. Memories are slipping away for some.  Many just can’t do what they once did. Some are largely confined to the four walls of their home – or a nursing home, in some cases.  For some of them, future prospects seem bleak. But then we find the incredible comfort of God’s Word.  It’s a promise that He will never leave His children.  He will never forsake them even when their hair turns grey and they find themselves more and more in need of help from others younger and stronger than they are.  God is assuring us in passages such as that from Isaiah above that He knows all about their situation, and He will not abandon them. He will help them. He will carry them. He will be with them to the end.  

So, how does He do this?  Usually, it is through other people in their lives.  One of those people just might be you and I.  And if we refuse, He just might use someone else, but it’s to our loss if this occurs.  Wonderfully, God has called His people alongside Him to carry out the promises of His Word.  We are told that the Church is like a body. Christ is the head, but His people are the hands, feet, and other members that comprise that body.  We are told that those members all have need of one another just as they have need of the head.  In 1 Corinthians 12:24-26 the Holy Spirit puts it like this: “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” 

We are to enter into the suffering of others around us by lifting up those who are in need. And we are to honor the members of the body – members like our own parents, or widows that are in particular need. And the result?  Rejoicing. There is joy that comes to those who care for others in need – a joy that they might otherwise never know.  It’s the joy of knowing that Christ has put us in a position to be used by Him to meet a need. And there is joy in the life of those who might receive that help, as they see Christ meeting their needs through others.  

Praise be to God for His care for the elderly, and praise be to God for how He calls those in the body to be used by Him to be a part of that care. May God help us to see and respond to the opportunities He has given us to care for others around us, and may God help those who receive such help to see that it is the very hand of God that is touching their lives.