Love What We Do

    I have a good friend retiring from many years at her job today. She is ready to move on to her next steps on this journey called life. I retired over and over as family and health commitments necessitated me to do so, but now during the pandemic, there's just not a good reason for me to return to work. I'm mostly concerned about bringing COVID home to my husband who has underlying conditions. But, I also don't know what I'd do, if I don't do, what I used to do. 

    That's the thing about getting older, it doesn't seem like a good time to try new things, since you have less life to live. Why start something new, when you may not be able to keep it up due to healthy concerns or even death? Sounds awful doesn't it, but I know people who seem to have this mentality, "It's too late for me." 

    I've seen this phrase on coasters and coffee cups lately, "Do what you love. Love what you do." Can you do that at any age? Can you do it during a worldwide pandemic? Do you even know what you love to do? My friend said the following on her Facebook entry about her retirement, "On to the next chapter. I'm excited to see what God has in store for me." 

    I heard a pastor on television say, "Do you wake up and ask God what he wants you to do today? Or do you wake up and tell God what you want to do today and hope he'll agree with you?" God knows us better than we know ourselves and wants us to do well and have a good life even into our old age. In Isaiah 46:4, the LORD told the Israelites, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." 

    Regardless of our level of physical, mental, or even emotional health, God is with us and for us. He wants us to "do what we love and love what we do." The LORD told the Israelites, through the Prophet Jeremiah, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart,'" (Jeremiah 29:11). 

    When you wake up tomorrow morning, try something new, rather than making plans for your day, ask God what his plans are for you. Next, ask him to help you complete those plans according to his will. Then go out and love your life, regardless of your age or infirmities, because with God there is no retirement, just changes in vocations and locations according to his purposes and plans for your life. 

Proverbs 16:3, Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.