Get Ready for a Great Second Half

I was about to enter my fortieth year and for the first time in my life, I thought about age and the fact that I was growing old. It dawned on me that I had probably already lived half of my life and it depressed me to think of how little time I actually had left on this earth.
What had I accomplished? What difference had I made in the world to make it a better place?
To make matters worse, I had just found my first clump – not strand – but clump of gray hair. I burst into tears and between sobs, yelled at God, “I’m not ready! I don’t want to grow old! I don’t want my hair to turn gray!”
When I had finished my little pity-party, I opened my Bible for my daily reading and found these words…
“Even to your old age I am the same, even when your hair is gray, I will bear you.” (Isaiah 46:4)
My crying turned to laughter. God had heard me and understood my fear of the future and was comforting me by reminding me that He is always the same: faithful.
Soon after, I received a very interesting birthday card. On the front it read, “Remember, God spoke to Moses after 40 years in the wilderness… He also brought Israel into the promised land after 40 years in the desert.”
The inside of the card read:
“GET READY FOR A GREAT SECOND HALF!”
I laughed again and asked God out loud, “What are You going to do?”
“It’s a surprise,” He seemed to whisper in my heart.
“Lord, I’ve told You over and over again, I HATE surprises. If we are going to continue to walk together, one of us is going to have to change.”
Later, as I was reading in the book of Malachi, I found the Lord’s response to my ultimatum: “… I am the Lord – I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)
In my heart I felt God reminding me of lessons I had learned in my youth: “We have walked together for a long time, you should know by now that I am the God of surprises. You should know by now I have only a good plan for your life. You should know by now that I will never leave or forsake you.”
Now, 25 years later, we baby-boomers are turning 65 and the lessons we learned in our youth are still the same.
“Life is a surprise. Stop trying to figure it out!”
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)