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Whatever season of life you’re in, God has equipped you to flourish—to live in the transforming power and beauty of His grace. As we age, we can easily lose sight of this message as cultural ideals glorifying youth take center stage. In the book, Aging With Grace, Sharon W. Betters and Susan Hunt offer present-day and biblical examples of women who rediscovered Gospel-rooted joy in their lives. Equipped with a biblical view of aging, Aging with Grace will help you encounter afresh the Gospel that “is big enough, good enough, and powerful enough to make every season of life significant and glorious.” Aging with Grace: Flourishing and Fruitful
Although there are no words adequate to describe the wonders of God’s creation, pictures of its beauty and majesty come to mind when we hear the words “flourishing” and “fruitful.” God has made most all living things with the capability to physically flourish and bear fruit.
When I think of creation bringing glory to God, I think of the plants and animals doing what they were created to do. This is a beautiful picture of how we also flourish and bear fruit. By doing what He has created us to do.
Our desire is for our countenance to daily take on more of the beauty of Christ’s righteousness. This transformation into a godly graceful older woman is His doing. It is His grace poured out on me and enabling me. I can’t make it happen. But He can.
It is the great reversal. Taking a weak, aging, seemingly useless body of a woman, and invigorating her on the inside to flourish and bear fruit. Aging and declining physically and mentally may be discouraging for us, but it is no challenge for Him. “…we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away (perishing), our inner self is being renewed day by day.” (II Corinthians 4:16)
It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, this promise is for all ages who wait on the Lord. Your age will not restrict you from running and being strong spiritually. Your age will not be a factor in your weariness and in your fainting. It is the righteous that will flourish, and this, my friends, is a foundational principle for aging with grace.
Susan Hunt says, “Understanding the doctrine of justification so that it becomes our doxology and our confidence is an essential element in aging with grace. It is important to know the relationship between justification (being made righteous) and sanctification (being made holy).”
I saw this first hand as I talked to a lady recently who is so full of guilt and shame that she can hardly function. This dear lady is working through a troubled marriage and is trusting God. She has confessed sin and submitted herself to the authority of God’s Word. She is doing it right. All I have seen from her in action is obedience, but she cannot get past her past. She saw the list in Revelation 21:8 that describes those who would be cast into the Lake of Fire one day, and she sees her past in one of those descriptions.
But God. I reminded her of 1 Corinthians 6:11 – “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
To age with grace, we have to get this right. We have been justified…made righteous…once and for all. God does not want us to live in shame and guilt over our past. And if we still struggle with particular sins, He promises us forgiveness and cleansing. Confess regularly and do not hold something against yourself that God does not hold against you. The righteousness of Christ is beautiful and we need to celebrate it! Rejoice in it! Be grateful for it!
The righteous flourish and are fruitful. It’s a fact. What does the average Christian think this means? Activity. Productivity. DOING more.
We discover true life - flourishing and fruitfulness - only when we die to self and follow Christ in obedience. That little plant under the ground germinating, sprouting, growing, blossoming, and bearing fruit…that plant is not making it happen. There is an external force at work. The water, the sun, and the soil. This is true of the Christian. God’s Spirit is the One working behind the scenes. And how beautiful it is! The fruit of the Spirit!
It is ironic really, that as we flourish, we are progressively dying. Dying to self. But that death to self is resulting in abundant life. “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12) “Even when our bodies become bent with age, the spirit of the Christian who dies to self and follows Christ grows upright. Like the date palm, she becomes sweeter in old age. And like the full-grown cedar of Lebanon, her presence provides a canopy of Gospel refreshment for others.” —Susan Hunt
Notice in Psalm 92:13 where we flourish. In the house of the Lord.
Although we are in Christ, we are at the moment also in the world, physically. And therefore, God wants us to be in a local church, living in a community of believers who are also in Christ. This is where God has planted us. This is where we show forth to the next generation. We declare that the Lord is upright. He has always done the right thing and always will. He is our Rock. He is our stronghold and our protector in the storms. There is no unrighteousness in Him. He is worthy of our praise and worthy of our worship.
This is flourishing. This is fruitfulness. And this is aging gracefully. Age gracefully!
How are you flourishing, and how are you aging with grace today, friend?
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12 Comments
7/5/2022 09:19:54 am
It's wonderful to know that while we declining outwardly, inwardly we can still show forth His praises.
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7/5/2022 09:58:28 am
Yes, we can Barbara!! And my prayer, for myself, is that I will continue to do just that well into old age and until the Lord takes me home! :)
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7/5/2022 09:40:28 am
It is the great reversal. Taking a weak, aging, seemingly useless body of a woman, and invigorating her on the inside to flourish and bear fruit. Aging and declining physically and mentally may be discouraging for us, but it is no challenge for Him. PTL!
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7/5/2022 10:00:49 am
"...but it is no challenge for Him." <— I love knowing that, Debbie!!
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7/5/2022 10:51:27 am
I know I am going to read this book at some point in time. It sounds like it is filled with so many wonderful nuggets. I love these words ---> God doesn't want us to live in the shame and guilt of our past. Amen.
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7/5/2022 11:09:18 am
There are a few books on my shortlist that I could read over and over again and be refreshed, encouraged, and admonished all at the same time. Besides the Bible, this book is one of those, Mary. It is for sure full of wonderful nuggets and wisdom straight out of God's Word. And this is for sure —> God doesn't want us to live in the shame and guilt of our past. Praise the Lord!!
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7/5/2022 12:47:45 pm
Julie & Patsy, thank you for sharing this. It resonates with me today. Such truth in these reminders. I gleaned a reminder from Susan Hunts quote >"The Lord’s redeemed ones are never homeless. HE is our home ". It really is something how we florish while progressively dying. I am encouraged by these verses too.
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7/5/2022 07:05:35 pm
I love that quote too, Paula —> "The Lord’s redeemed ones are never homeless. He is our home." It's encouraging to this aging soul! :)
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7/5/2022 01:14:13 pm
Our flourishing lives definitely point to and glorify the God who leads us in triumph!
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7/5/2022 07:07:16 pm
That's a great prayer, Michele —> That our flourishing lives will point to and glorify the God who leads us in triumph!!
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7/5/2022 02:46:13 pm
I've really come to appreciate the word "flourishing" and all that it entails in our life in Jesus!
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7/5/2022 07:10:56 pm
I love that word too, Lisa! My Oxford dictionary defines flourishing as "developing rapidly and successfully; thriving." I want to be successful at aging with grace. I want to thrive spiritually even to the point that I enter Heaven's gate and hear "well done good and faithful servant."
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