Feeling Old

I often feel old...I mean, yeah, I know, I am old...but...I feel like I got a late start in life.  I guess I'm a late bloomer of sorts.  So now, I feel stuck.  When I think of my friends and other women my age, most of them are already having grandchildren, while I haven't even graduated a kid from high school yet.

Sigh...

I'm ashamed for complaining about this.  I should be grateful, counting all of my blessings.  Instead, I'm begrudgingly going through life...wondering if I'm going to make it...thinking everyone who sees me with my boys might believe they are my grandchildren...sigh...

I wonder how Noah felt?  He was like 600 years old when God told him to build an ark that would hold the seed of a new civilization.  Hmmm...There's nothing in the Bible that indicates Noah might have complained about the assignment.  I can't find any under-his-breath comments reminding the Lord about his advanced years, faltering knees, lower back pain, failing vision or achy joints and fatigue.  I guess 600 years was the old 40s or 50s back then, but still!  I don't think I'd be up for weekend-warrior type of projects, let alone ark-building at my age!

But Noah didn't even flinch.  He listened to God's instructions and went right to it.  Didn't question it.  Didn't ask "why me?"  Didn't point to younger fellows who might have been better suited for the job.  He took God at His Word, and obeyed Him without hesitation. 

I have a lot to learn from Noah, that's for sure. 

The Lord knows the right timing for everything.  He doesn't rush through things.  He lines everything up perfectly, so, when the time is right, things unfold.  The reason I feel stuck and late is because my timing is not aligned with God's timing.  So, what am I to do?  Well...I need to pray for the Holy Spirit to help me accept and welcome the perfection of God's designs, and the wonder of His timing.  I pray I remember that, indeed:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.  Eclesiastes 3: 1

I'm not old.  I'm experienced.  I'm not late.  I'm pacing myself.  I'm not stuck.  I'm taking refuge in God's loving arms, learning how to wait for Him and how to accept the beauty of His perfect timing.