My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. -Psalm 73:26 (NIV)
I’m recovering from a strained calf muscle, my second in a few short months. This, along with creaky joints when I get out of bed in the morning and a glimpse in the bathroom mirror, remind me I’m getting older. I sometimes wrestle with aging and the fear of the unknown future. What will become of me if I lose my spouse? What if my body or mind fail and I can no longer care for myself or live in my home?
And then I remember my source of peace and turn to the words that calm my fears: “Even in your old age and gray hairs I …will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isa. 46:4). These words help me to settle into God’s loving embrace and to look to the future with more anticipation than dread. I have no need to fear the unknown because God will not abandon me.
Even though I cannot know the future, I feel safe and secure under God’s protection and take comfort in scripture. I know my body will change, but God’s love for me will not. And I look with anticipation and great joy to the end of my earthly journey, when I will meet Jesus face to face. Until then, I will trust in the One who calms all my fears and walks with me through the unknown.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your promise to be with us through all the days of our lives. Amen.
Thought for the day: I have no need to fear the unknown because God is with me.
Teresa Todt (Illinois, USA)
