Too many seasoned citizens feel they’ve got nothing left to contribute to their communities or the world at large. That type of thinking could not be further from the truth.
At Forward From 50, we believe God created each person individually for a specific purpose to make a difference in the lives of others. To carry out that purpose, God gave us each at least one natural talent, or something that just seems super easy for us to do.
Throughout the course of our lives, God orchestrates circumstances to bestow upon us unique experiences which fine tune our natural talents and enable us to learn additional skills along the way.
While our purpose goes through several stages as we get older, all of it — natural talent, learned skills and unique experiences — are designed to bring us to our ultimate purpose. Some people might call it our destiny.
It’s frustrating to hear seasoned citizens profess a believe that God created the universe out of nothing, yet they harbor an idea that God can’t do something worthwhile in their own lives.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
There is a reason why you were not born in 1723. God needed your unique combination of talent, skills and experiences TODAY. There is something he intends for you, and you alone, to do. If you don’t do it, the people God prepared in advance for you to serve may not have their prayers answered or their lives changed.
As a result, the trajectory of their lives may be altered, and you won’t enjoy that feeling of fulfillment by working in alignment with your purpose. Most of all, God won’t get the glory.
As Mordecai explained to Queen Esther in Esther 4:14, if you remain silent and don’t do anything at this time, relief and deliverance will come from somewhere else, but you will perish without the blessing God intended for you. You were created for a time such as this.
God never intended for people to retire and just sit back, thinking I’m going to take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. In fact, he calls people who believe that “fools” in Luke 12:19.
We are to “run with perseverance” the race marked out for us as shown in Hebrews 12:1.
David Steen, one of the people we recently featured on Forward From 50, said it best:
“God was not telling us to create a little place for ourselves here on earth where we could hunker down and live happily ever after,” David explained. “Our ‘happily ever after’ is waiting for us in heaven. But, there is a lot of work for us to do with the time we have left here.”
If you need help identifying a purpose for your life, send me an email at greg @ forwardfrom50.com. We can brainstorm together to identify something I’m confident you’ll love to do which will help others, too.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.