Kaya’t hindi kami nasisiraan ng loob kahit na humihina ang aming katawang-lupa; patuloy namang lumalakas ang aming espiritu araw-araw.

2 Mga Taga-Corinto 4:16

“Kaya ko ito,” ang sabi ni Tony. Hindi siya nagpatulong sa anak na buhatin ang limang galong tubig. Pagka-angat ay nabitiwan niya agad ito. Bigla kasing sumakit ang kamay niya. But deeper than the pain in his hand was the pain in his heart. Hindi niya matanggap that he isn’t as strong as his 30-year-old self anymore.

Melissa avoids mirrors. A former beauty queen, she hates seeing the lines etched on her forehead and the corners of her mouth. “I used to be pretty,” she said. Feeling sorry for herself, she has become a recluse.

Their stories are shared by many others who are advancing in years. One doctor said, “Most of my middle-aged patients are in denial. They think they’ll always be able to play strenuous sports or continue working 12 hours a day. Someday they’ll be old, and they won’t like it because they aren’t emotionally prepared for it.”

Ikaw, how do you view aging? Napapansin mo ba na hindi ka na sing-lakas physically or sing-talas mentally? While noticing these changes in your body, does it fill you with sadness? Or maybe regret for the lost time and opportunities you didn’t take for the Lord?

Take heart in God’s Word. The psalmist said of those who trust God: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green” (Psalm 92:12-14, NIV).

Walang expiration date ang pagiging productive for the Lord. Kung humihina ka na, humingi ng lakas sa Kanya. At sa mata Niya, hindi kukupas ang iyong ganda.