My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)As a young man, I was always very strong. So I got used to doing things for myself. I would move that couch if I needed to and not wait for anyone else, I would lift this or that no matter the consequences.
And there were, of course, consequences of being stronger than you are intelligent. Today (in facet his very minute) I suffer them.
We just got through moving from Lincoln back to Fayette to stay with my daughter and her husband until we get an apartment (which hopefully will not be long as I hate living with people).
This move was one of the worst we have ever done. Ella is getting weaker as her MS rages, so she has fallen a few times. We did most of the packing a lot of the moving by ourselves and she has fallen a few times. She also has trouble walking on her best days so she has had a lot of trouble standing for the length of time needed to pack.
But I noticed that I had a lot of trouble. And it all stems from one source: me. I have gotten to the age where I cannot deadlift a refrigerator any more. And my abilities are diminishing, little by little, day by day. This move has really shown me that.
I hate it. But it is a fact of life that everybody gets old.
I remember seeing a picture of Johnny Weismuller (you remember, the guy who played Tarzan back in the 1930’s or 40’s) when he was old. And it was startling at the toll age had taken on him.
You can see the same thing by looking at Arnold Schwartzenegger at the beach today. He does not look as good as he did and he never will again. He is a year older than me. Geezer.
Again, sooner or later, you have to acknowledge the fact that you cannot do what you did. You are too old to do what you used to do. To try to keep on doing it is foolish.
In Christianity, it is the reverse to a degree. As young Christians, you rely more on God; as an older one, you have more spiritual strength (1 John 2:12-14). But, even so, God is your strength, not your own ability.
And your ability to do what you do is because of him, and it shows his strength in your life. What we do as Christians is because of him, not in place of him. We are strong because he is strong. Without him and under our own power, we are lost.
Give him your life and he will make you strong.
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