While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18
I was sitting here thinking about the birthday looming in the not-too-distant future when my eye caught something that made me chuckle. There on the counter was the wrinkle release spray I brought on this trip for my clothes. “Too bad that doesn’t work on bodies,” I thought.
My next birthday will be my 61st, and I have to say I wouldn’t trade what I have learned for youth.
There have been some difficult lessons. Granted, some may have been learned more quickly if I weren’t so hardheaded. But eventually, they were learned.
I can only speak for myself, but I’ve found a quiet freedom in growing older. As a Christian, as I draw closer to meeting my Lord, it is as though I’m rising above the clamor of the world and all its distractions, able to focus more clearly on the expectation of eternity.
When I was younger, the noise felt louder. There was always something to chase, something to prove, something to defend. The world insists that this life is the main event, that our worth is measured by what we accomplish, accumulate, or how securely we stand in the moment.
Age has a way of loosening that grip.
No, growing older isn’t easy. The body reminds us daily that it is fading. People we love leave. The earthly horizon grows shorter.
And yet, for those who belong to Christ, that shorter horizon doesn’t bring panic; it brings perspective.
That is the freedom I am tasting. Not freedom from loving people well or from the works still given to me, but freedom from the tyranny of the temporary.
Arguments that once felt urgent, approvals I once craved, worries that once filled the night grow smaller against the backdrop of Jesus.
I think one of the sweetest gifts of growing older is seeing eternity through the lens of wisdom gained from years of experiencing God’s faithfulness.
Reflection: How much of your attention is consumed by things that will not matter in eternity? What worries, expectations, or distractions might lose their hold on you if you viewed them through the lens of God’s eternal promises?
