The New Season

A recent conversation with a preacher friend who is finishing out his last year before retirement set me to thinking about this season of life.  When I first walked into it, I must confess to thinking I regarded it as the last and final season of life.  After all, when forty years have been logged in the pulpit, it is hard to imagine that stopping means entering into what some would describe as "the best is yet to be."  Those words sound good, but it seemed unlikely to me when the robe was put in the closet.    

After eleven years now I have come to know the truth of the words of the poem.  The best is not yet to be, but all around me.  And, the truth is, it always has been all around me.  My problem has been more in the seeing than anything else.  Too much of life is lived thinking about what is ahead, hoping its grass will be greener, and worshiping at the altar of productivity.  This season which seems framed chronologically is really a season to be experienced throughout life, but, unfortunately, ignored by most.    

God does not throw us away when we reach a certain age.  Instead, it seems more likely that He leads us into a different era of usefulness.  And, surprisingly enough, the manner in which He leads us into this new era of usefulness is often nothing like we figured it would be.  What must never be forgotten is that He never gets through with us.  When He moves us from one part of our life to another, it is not because we can no longer serve, but because there is something new He can do with us if we simply pay attention to the leading.