Speaking in the Light: Over the Hill There Is God!

I am not over the hill! I am also not having a mid-life crisis because I have no plans or desire to live to be 102. I don’t feel like I am about to retire, or recline or retreat! I am looking for new challenges to conquer, new lessons to learn and new adventures to acquire! To be over the hill doesn’t mean to me to be old in age; it means to be well traveled and experienced and having much to offer to the younger generation. I am not on the back burner but on the edge of my seat! There is much I still long to taste and see and touch and do. Don’t tell me that I am too old because I won’t listen nor believe you. Today is a day to redeem and renew and refresh and be revived!
Now many of you know that I have just had a personal bout with some heart issues and high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels and anemia. And in order to get some more exercise, I played softball last night with the Coastal Broadcasting Radio Team and was proud to announce that I was the oldest guy on the team. Now today when I woke up this morning, I paid a price because I couldn’t walk when I attempted to get out of bed. After I smacked a single up the middle, I aggravated the bursitis that I have been battling in my right heel as I was running to first. But I refused to go on the disabled list and give up. I have received all of this harsh news about my aging body not as a reason to quit but more as a reveille to wake up and begin to take better care of the instrument that God has given me to make lots more sweet music before it even thinks about never playing again!
For me, as I trek my passage over the hill I am discovering that there isn’t just age there is Adonai! God is still right beside me and He has made me who I am- in the tent that I presently still inhabit and as far as I am concerned I am not going to just spend the rest of my time telling stories of the glory days of my past! I am banking on my best days still being the ones that are yet to come. So I am going to heal up so I can head up to the heights that are still on my horizon! As I told Coach Jenna last night, I didn’t show up to sit the bench- I am here to get in the game and contribute everything that I have and more!
Did you know that besides being the Senior Pastor at The Lighthouse Church, I am also working with the Youth Group again?
I was a full time Youth Pastor from 1982 until 1997 and when my son Rudy moved on to follow the Lord by serving Him with his wife Lindsey and new son Jude in Pennsylvania- I felt the nudge to do something I have always been passionate about and that is pouring my life and heart into teenagers! Since May of 2010, I have been back in the saddle again every Sunday and Wednesday night and I have had an absolute blast working with some of the greatest young people on this planet and together we are falling more in love with Jesus and putting our faith in action! I think it is funny to our kids that they have a Youth Pastor who is older than their parents- but they also know that I love them dearly and I am not trying to be an overgrown one of them- but an adult who understands and wants to come alongside of them and help them live the design that God has engineered specifically for each and every one of them. So I am playing ultimate Frisbee and flag football and softball and basketball and going to concerts and amusement parks and having picnics on the beach and leading Mission Trips to the Dominican Republic and Russia and allowing God to write brand new chapters in the story of my epic legacy.
Psalm 121 reads, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Fabulous words!!!! “I lift up my eyes…” What does this mean?
It means to notice something. It means to become aware of the possibilities. It means to find your attention grabbed or arrested. If you refuse to use your imagination, you will lose your heart on the way. “I lift up my eyes to the hills…” Hills got in the way. Hills were trouble. What hills are you looking at right now that you are making mountains out of? What is making you reach for your bedroom slippers rather than your hiking boots? How am I going to make it over that hill? Where am I going to find help? Worry comes from a German word which originally meant to strangle, or constrict, or choke. Worry chokes the life out of you. Worry is never God’s will for your life.
My help comes from the Lord. Not from the hills. Not from me. This word help is a beautiful word. It’s used over 200 times in the Bible, most often to describe our God. God is our help. I am not in control of anything. “I lift up my eyes; where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord…” What kind of help? The kind of help that God gives: He watches over me!!! That little word “watch” gets used six times in these few verses. God is the watcher; I am the watchee. Nothing eternal is ever at risk in my life! So I can be at peace!!!
Even I I am over the proverbial hill- I am not out of the care of my God! He is here and there and everywhere and so I don’t have to play it safe- I can still take faith-filled risks and go for it!
Would you pray with me? “God, I’m lifting up my eyes right now. I am not going to waste this day by filling it up with my worry.
I am going to watch for you watching over me! I’m giving my body to you right now so that you can fill my days with whatever You want so that I may go wherever You lead to become whoever You want me to be… Amen!”