Streams of Mercy
In recent months, I’ve said good-bye to many dear friends in their “nifty nineties.” What a great generation, and how blessed I am to have known and loved them and enjoyed the gift of their friendship!
From time to time, some of them question God’s reason for keeping them here, but they continue to seek God’s plan for these years, and try to find meaning and purpose in life from day to do. Many times my role is simply to remind them of truths they lose sight of from time to time – our times are in God’s hands, God promises to complete the good work begun in each of us and nothing can separate us from the love of God!
Isaiah 46:3-4 is a favorite: “I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you.” (The Message)
Billy Graham’s book, Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well, is a helpful companion for this time on life’s journey. “Someday our life’s journey will be over,” writes Graham. “In a sense we all are nearing home. As we do so, may we not only learn what it means to grow older but, with God’s help, also learn to grow older with grace and find the guidance needed to finish well … I can only hope in my senior state that I am building bridges for those following behind me as I encourage them on the roads they travel. For those of us nearing home, our steps may indeed be slow, but they need not be without purpose.” Graham closes his book with these words: “As I look back, I see how God’s hand guided me. I sense His Spirit with me today, and most comforting is the knowledge that He will not forsake me during this last stretch as I am nearing home.”
In my second year of seminary I met a wonderful lady of 96 years who had begun writing poetry on her 90th birthday. One of her poems ended with these words, “Lord help me to make the most of where I am in time.” That became the prayer of my heart as well, from that point on in my life.
Giving thanks for many dear friends who are “making the most of where they are in time” and “finishing well” … and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth