September...and the need for refreshment!

As seniors, September is a very special month! We may have time with our kids and grandkids on a lake, by the pool, at the amusement park...always a wonderful time to share love and joy.

But, September is also a very warm month...usually HOT!  As I was thinking about this one morning in my prayer time, it reminded me that even as “ones who have been younger longer”, we may have times of spiritual dryness that come into our lives. Walking with the Savior for many years does not negate the possibilities of those dry times. You know, times in which we experience trials and perhaps difficulties that stretch us out emotionally, physically and especially spiritually.

Our minds may become cluttered and challenged to the point of making it almost impossible to meditate on God’s Word and spend time alone with Him. Although the desire of our hearts is to have our lives “poured out as a drink offering” (2 Timothy 4:6-8) to refresh and encourage our kids, grandkids and people we know and meet, our intimacy with God may dry up , just like a Texas creek bed in the hot September sun. We are determined to say with The Apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”.

This kind of dry season is possible in all of our lives unless we stay close to the Lord and allow our hearts to be gripped by Him. We must always remember that intimacy with the Lord is where we will find spiritual refreshment for our souls! We may start our walk back up that hot, dry creek-bank of frustrations by taking comfort in His promise to never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). God uses those dry times to draw us closer and prepare us for the next thing He wants us to do, for His glory! Seniors, He is not done with us yet, not by a long shot!

When we turn to Him in prayer, He listens to us in love and responds with His gentle, refreshing and cooling touch.  Remembering who He is, looking through our trials by faith (John 14:27) enables us to see the finish line in victory! We will break the tape with arms held high and smiles of assurance on our faces.  So, stay cool fellow seniors (or in the words of a grandchild...don’t sweat it!) because in Christ Jesus you are just the cooling - gentle and loving touch that our kids, our families… actually, the whole world, needs to see and experience! (John 15:12-17)

Questions that may expose our “dry creek beds” and spiritual overheating:

Do I press hard after the Lord?
Does God's Word direct my life? Does sin grieve my heart? Do I quickly repent when I see I am wrong?Do I quickly and with sensitivity respond to the Holy Spirit's leading? Do I know my Faith is growing?

Joe Schofield

Minister to Seniors, Prestonwood Baptist Church

jschofield@prestonwood.org