Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness. – Proverbs 16:31
I’ve been thinking about aging lately. Specifically, how growing older is supposed to be a gift to be celebrated. Want to take a guess at what the most spiritually productive decade of your life is? Not your 20’s, not your 30’s, not even your 40’s. It’s your 60’s, peaking somewhere around 65. The 2nd most productive decade is your 70’s and the third is your 50’s.
The Social Security Administration has a term for a person who reaches the “average retirement age”, it’s called your FRA (full retirement age). Depending on when you were born, your FRA is 66 or 67. God sees things differently. In His eyes, you’re at your peak when you reach your FRA! That’s why you don’t find the concept of retirement anywhere in the Scriptures.
When I was in my mid-20’s, a mentor told me, “Spend your 20’s, 30’s, & 40’s building depth. Go deep in God’s Word. Go deep in prayer. Go deep in your marriage. Carve out deep wells. Let the roots of faith grow deeply into your heart. Focus on depth and God will take care of the breadth.” Wise words that have served me well.
Our youth-centered culture says that if you haven’t experienced it by 30 then you’re missing out. The pressure to spread your life out quickly is strong—take every leadership opportunity presented to you, step into whatever open-door is in front of you, rise to the challenge, maximize the experiences—and do it all before you turn 40 because you’re past your prime at that point. God’s ways are higher than our ways and He wants to shift our perspective on aging.
If we get pre-occupied with breadth at the neglect of building depth then we’ll most likely find ourselves in a position where our responsibilities surpass our character. We won’t have the scaffolding on the inside to uphold the leadership weight entrusted to us.
Maybe that’s why God called Abraham at 75 and Moses at 80. Maybe that’s why the prophetess Anna at age 84 was the one to welcome Mary, Joseph and Jesus to the temple.
The general trend should be, with age comes increased maturity, wisdom, and spiritual fruit.
I’m 48, which means, by His grace, I’m heading into my 3 most productive decades. Hold me to it.
My heroes include any elderly persons who keep the flame lit, who still feel inspiration and outrage at ideas, current events, history, movies, books, national tragedies, spring flowers, the passing parade. Somehow they take it all in. Life enlarges their spirit, becomes fuel for the remaining journey, seasoned with humor, not bitterness. They age with dignity. Part of the dignity is keeping the inevitable heartbreak framed by larger perspectives and by going deeper into the grief, not denying it.
– Ray Waddle