“What do you do when you can’t make sense of a season in your life? Your sacrifices are met with empty harvests and brass heavens? What do you do with a promise and only a 40-year hike to show for it?” asks Jeremy Howard at The Monday Christian.
That’s a question posed by many people, especially those of use who are over 50. We would like to know that the work we did made a positive difference to someone. We would like to be remembered for “doing something” and not just taking up space somewhere.
When that recognition doesn’t come or we are unceremoniously ushered out of a job we’ve held for years, it can feel as though we had been wasting our time.
I suspect God may have a different perspective.
“Nobody should ever give me a plaque or a reward based on any results from that time spent, but I know what it did for me and for my character. It shaped me in ways that I am still discovering,” Howard wrote. “It was the crucible, the flame that burned the dross.
“I would not be who I am without experiencing it. My life would be emptier without that pain and that joy I experienced,” he added. “If you are looking at what appears to be a cost without a benefit, bear in mind that not all benefits seem directly correlated to the cost or circumstance.
“I still see beauty in what God did during that situation. I know I was faithful to what He called me to at that time and in his way, he rewarded me richly for it,” Howard noted.
The full story can be viewed at The Monday Christian.
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.