We need a new button, t-shirt, bumper sticker, or cap that
reads…NFY!
It stands for “Not Finished Yet!”
Regardless of the label people put on you (senior, baby-boomer,
retired person), regardless of the number of birthdays you’ve celebrated, you
are still here. And as long as you are here, you are not there, and as long
as you are not there, it means God still has a purpose for you here.
When Jesus was on the cross, the last thing He said was, “It is
finished.” After He made that statement He died. When is God’s purpose for
you on this earth finished? It is finished when you die…until then, you are
“not finished yet!” (NFY!)
The way in which He uses you may change, but He will never
consider you useless, no matter what your age.
A few years ago, I remember someone telling me that my preaching/writing
days were behind me and my creative work was a thing of the past. Those
words did not discourage me, because a few weeks before those comments were
made, I heard God saying the very opposite to my spirit. The Scripture
God used to assure me things were “not finished yet” was from Psalm 92…
I have been anointed with fresh oil…The righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree; He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are
planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:10, 12-15
This passage helped me realize that my ability to flourish in
life, to be fruitful in ministry, and to be fresh in creativity, had nothing
to do with my age, but with the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit upon my
life. All that I acquired by dint of hard labour in the realms of literature,
science and faith is tending towards the consciousness of pure transparency,
which is the glory of God. Then solitude and God are co-terminus, which is
the highest greatness. As we mature in
spirit, we see our friends, living and dead, in a new light until we reach
the final community in God. This absolute transparency will provide the
ultimate definition of what it is to be human. To be immersed in it is the
realisation of the constitution of my being, the significance of my self, and
the purpose of my existence.
Many define “the retirement years” as the time when our work is
done and we settle into an easy chair as a reward for our productive years.
For the child of God, our best years do not have to be a thing of the past.
God called Abraham to leave Haran and go to the Promised Land when he was
seventy-five years old; God commissioned Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt
when he was eighty; God gave Zachariah and Elizabeth a child when they were
“well advanced in years;” Paul was still ministering to the body of
Christ from prison when he called himself the “aged one;” the 2nd and
3rd books of John are written by the “elder” John; Caleb, at the age of
eighty-five was still a mighty warrior and received Hebron as an
inheritance; Anna, a prophetess who was well past 80, continued to
maintain a powerful prayer ministry, and was one of the earliest believers to
see the Lord with her own eyes.
Does the thought of getting older discourage you or make you
fearful? Consider these words the Lord spoke to Isaiah…
I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is
white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. Isaiah 46:4
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Friday, October 26, 2012
NOT FINISHED YET
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