When You Feel Too Old to Be Used by God
Feeling sidelined because of your age, declining health, or retirement? In this episode, discover why you’re never too old to be used by God, and how your later years can actually be your most fruitful.
Feeling sidelined because of your age, declining health, or retirement? In this episode, discover why you’re never too old to be used by God, and how your later years can actually be your most fruitful.
Have you ever started to feel like your best days of being useful to God are quietly slipping behind you?
Our culture sends a loud message that value is tied to youth, speed, and earning power. When you retire from your career, experience declining health, or watch a younger generation take the reins, it is so easy to feel sidelined and forgotten. You begin to absorb the lie that your time for productivity is over, leaving you wondering if you still have anything meaningful to contribute.
In this episode, we look at the inspiring story of Jim Annis, an 80-year-old man who refuses to spend his retirement in a recliner. Instead, he spends his days covered in sawdust, building hundreds of handmade wooden toys to donate to the Salvation Army every Christmas. Through his beautiful example and the powerful promise of Psalm 92:14, you'll see how God views aging completely differently than the world does. Moses, Caleb, and Anna prove that God doesn’t issue expiration dates on His callings. Your assignment may change, but your purpose remains.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- Why retiring from your career doesn't mean you are retiring from your calling
- How Psalm 92:14 promises that you can remain "vital and green," producing fruit even in old age
- The unique and desperately needed gifts that only older believers can bring to the Church
You are never too old to be used by God. Instead of disqualifying you, age positions you to offer wisdom forged through decades of walking faithfully with Him.
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Jim Annis, who lives in Sanford, North Carolina, isn't
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spending his retirement just sitting in a recliner or playing
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golf. Instead, he's covered in sawdust. All year long, he
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collects wood scraps from his neighbors and spends his own
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limited income to buy materials. Then he gets to work, spending
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countless hours building hundreds of homemade wooden cars,
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tractors, and fire trucks. At an age where society tells you to
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step aside and take it easy and let the younger generations do
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the heavy lifting, Jim is putting in some pretty serious
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labor. What motivates an 80-year-old man to spend his
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retirement years working tirelessly in a dusty garage
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instead of thinking his time for productivity is over?
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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and
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today we're talking about finding God's purpose for every
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season of your life, especially in our later years. Moving into
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retirement and watching younger generations take over can leave
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older believers feeling sidelined. But God never puts
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his children on a shelf. Psalm 92 14 says this about those who
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are in their later years. they will still produce fruit. They
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will remain vital and green. Our culture implicitly and sometimes
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explicitly tells us that our value is tied to our youth and
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what we can provide to society in our declining years. So when
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retirement comes, or when our bodies start to slow down, the
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message we quietly absorb is that our best days of being
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useful are behind us. We're told to step aside and take it easy.
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Or just pass the baton on to the younger crowd and let them take
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over. But that's not how the kingdom of God operates. In
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God's age doesn't disqualify you from continuing to give and
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serve. Think about the heroes of the faith. Moses was 80 years
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old when he stood before Pharaoh and led the Israelites out of
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Egypt. Caleb was 85 when he looked at the promised land and
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said, Give me my mountain. He was still ready to fight the
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giants. Anna was an elderly widow who spent her later years
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serving day and night in the temple. And because she was
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faithful in her old age, she was one of the first people on earth
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to look into the face of the infant Messiah. God doesn't
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retire his people. The calling on your life doesn't come with
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an expiration date. Now, your assignment might change. And how
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you serve will look differently, probably, at 75 than it did at
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35. But your purpose on this earth doesn't end. In fact,
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older believers possess something the younger generation
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desperately needs. That's wisdom forged through decades of
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walking with God. You have survived storms. You've seen
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God's track record of faithfulness in ways a
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25-year-old simply hasn't lived long enough to see. You know how
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to pray and how to listen. You know what actually matters in
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the long run. Jim Annis remembers exactly what it was
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like to grow up poor with a father who couldn't afford to
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buy Christmas gifts. He decided that his later years weren't
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meant for just passing time. They were meant for giving back.
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Every single Christmas, he donates around 300 of these
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beautiful handmade toys to the Salvation Army to be given to
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children in need. When reporters asked him why he worked so hard
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at his age, he simply said his pay is knowing a child is
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smiling. You're never too old to be used by God. Retiring from
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your career doesn't mean you retire from your calling.
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Whether it's sharing decades of wisdom or offering a listening
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ear or, like Jim, building wooden fire trucks for kids who
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need them, your later years can be some of your most fruitful.
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Maybe you're listening to this today and you're feeling a
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little sidelined. Your kids are grown and your career is behind
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you. And your energy isn't what it used to be. So it's easy to
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feel like you don't have much to offer anymore. But God says you
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can still produce fruit. You can still be vital and green. Don't
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let culture tell you that you're done. Your prayers are powerful
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and your encouragement can change the trajectory of an
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exhausted young parent's week. Your wisdom is a treasure.
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Here's today's challenge. If you are in those later seasons of
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life, ask God today, Lord, what is my assignment in this season?
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Then find one way to pour out what God has poured into you.
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Text a younger believer to encourage them. Or commit to
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praying for your church's leadership daily. Or you might
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find a way to serve using your unique gifts and talents. and if
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you are in a younger season of life, your challenge is this. Go
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find an older saint this week and ask them, Can you share some
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of your wisdom with me? Validate their experience and learn from
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their miles on the road. Lord, thank you that your kingdom
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values every season of life. For the older believers listening
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right now who feel forgotten or sidelined, remind them that they
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are still vital and green in your eyes. Stir up a fresh
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purpose in their hearts. Help us all to remember that we never
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retire from our calling to love you and serve others. Let us
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bear fruit all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. If
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this episode encouraged you, please share it with a friend or
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loved one who might be feeling like their best years are behind
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them. Just copy the link in the show notes and send it their way.
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Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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Remember, God never puts his children on a shelf. You're
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never too old to be used by him. Come back next time for more
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encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until
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then, God bless and have a great day.
