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 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.
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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Saturday, April 20, 2013
NOT FINISHED YET
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