Don’t Count Me Out!
I was recently asked by my daughter-in-law, “When are you going to retire?” I wasn’t quite sure how to answer, but in my mind, I was hearing a lot of “what ifs.”
- What if I don’t have enough set aside?
- What if Social Security becomes more unstable?
- What if the markets crumble?
- What if my health forces me to retire before I am ready financially?
- What would my retirement look like—travel, hobbies?
Then I remembered my new favorite verses from Isaiah 46:3-4 which remind me that God has provided for me all my life and will continue to do so. There is no reason to wring our hands with anxiety any more today than there was 40 years ago. God will still carry me through.
“’…I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.’” – Isaiah 46:3b–4 (NLT)
Retirement may have more leisure or discretionary time, but hopefully, I will still seek to advance the Kingdom in any way God provides. There are new mercies every day, as well as new opportunities to make a difference.
“But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, ‘The Lord is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!’” – Psalm 92:12–15 (NLT)
David speaks of God being our rock in this passage. In other passages he also talks about God being our rock and our fortress. The thing about fortresses and rocks is that God doesn’t promise to place them around us; He calls for us to come to them.
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” – Psalm 18:2 (NLT)
When it comes to our future, we can come to Him as our place of safety and follow His will. You have maybe heard, “God’s will, done in God’s way, in God’s time, will never fail nor lack for resources.” Biblical financial theology applied in our lives means we practice godly habits with His resources.
“Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” – Proverbs 6:6–11 (NLT)
God has placed us here, in this time, in this place, for His glory. He has given us our talents and strengths for the work we do, and there is nothing we can claim as our own. Therefore, we give because God is a generous God, calling us to be cheerful givers and participants in the work of the Kingdom. We save because the winter will come. We live within our means by avoiding debt and being content. This creates margin in our lives so that we may live generously with others to make an impact on their lives.
So, when will I retire? If you are asking me, “When will I receive my last paycheck?” my answer is, “I don’t know.” We do not know the future of the economy or world politics, but we can be wise and follow His leading. I do not want to go into retirement with any debt, including having my house paid off.
If you are asking me, “When will I sit on the front porch all day and watch butterflies or travel to all the national parks?” my answer would probably be “someday.” I hope there will be some of those days, but I want more than that. I want to still be contributing and still be bearing fruit for the Kingdom.
I want to be like Caleb now that my hair has turned white and contribute in the furtherance of God’s Kingdom.
“Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.” – Joshua 14:10–12 (NLT)
How about you? How would you answer the question, “When are you going to retire?”
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