#50Somethings

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

By the time we have reached #50Something, we have passed our peak, (not that I can remember where it was), crested the mountaintop of life, and now are ascending down the other side. I know for me personally it has caused a true life reflection, seeing the results of decisions that have played out over time. A lot of them are painful, (Satan takes the ball and runs with them), but I see the joy in much of my life, and see God’s sovereign hand weaving the fabric of it. I would love to expand the questions, to let you know I share many of the same as you, but it becomes too personal, and this is not the place. We all at this stage of life are likely facing an inner struggle of some sorts, but some just may hide it better than others.

One thing I can be open about is the struggle with my mind. The fading sight and memory are always a topic of laughter, but the analytical abilities and understanding are troublesome to me. My profession is one of depth, much of the physics side I never claimed to truly understand, but it is evolving just like most of science and technology. There is a point in life when we come to say maybe we just won’t understand, and that is humbling in itself. In the familiar passage above, James is writing about understanding the trials and struggles of life. The passage is as broad as the sovereignty of God, and as deep or shallow as our faith in the one we call our God. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When we are struggling, we all do some times, we typically get closer to God, or even run away and hide in many ways. God uses the trials of life to draw us closer to him, in ways we don’t understand. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. God does not operate like we think he should, he does not many times do what we would in certain tough situations; he does not heal every time, he does not answer every prayer, he does not look at the current situation in time, because he sees the end game, he sees all of time and what he has designed for your entire life.

Maybe at #50Something we are becoming limited to some degree to simplify our lives by God’s design. Maybe he is trying to slow us down from life’s complications for the second half of our lives to be resting in the joy of abiding in him. Maybe at #50Something we should be reflecting on our lives, our faith, the level of our faith and his sovereign design of the first half. Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Maybe at #50Something we should just be trying to get closer to God through prayer and his Word, because we are about to truly get closer to God at the end of the second half.