Aging with Joy - Ask Pastor John
- Andy McIlvain
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Video from Desiring God
Aging with Joy - Ask Pastor John
Audio Transcript
"We’re talking about aging today — the fears that come with aging. We hear from an older Christian who opens up to us in complete honesty. They’re terrified — terrified of growing old, terrified of feeling useless, terrified of the indignities of a failing body. They’re terrified of death too, even though they believe in heaven. So, here’s the struggle: How do you finish life — finish out the final, unknown stretch of this race — while being increasingly humbled, and do it without becoming fearful or bitter?
It’s an anonymous question from a listener to the podcast on the radio: “Pastor John, hello to you and thank you for this program that I listen to every week on the radio. Pastor John, what would you say to someone who is terrified of aging and who feels increasingly useless as their strength fades, or panicked about death, even though they believe in heaven? That is my struggle. How can an older Christian finish their life not with fear or bitterness, but with joy, dignity, and hope in Christ?”
Into the Unknown Country
Let’s begin with Abraham. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
We don’t know whether we will be totally alone on the day of our death, with no loved ones around us. We don’t know whether we will have lost so many powers and resources that we will be professionally useless. We don’t know if it will be a moment of great suffering and pain. We don’t know if our faith will be restful or terribly embattled by the evil one. We don’t know if our finances will have run out, or if some crisis in the market will have caused our resources to vanish. We don’t know whether dementia will have robbed us of all of our Christian memories, and even our Scripture memory. We don’t know how old we will be or where we will be living, or whether it will be sudden or long or drawn out...' from the Transcript