Something I would not have predicted is that we become different people as we age. 

Years ago, I was part of some organizations that were in turmoil. I had known many of the people involved for a long time and was struggling to understand their choices. That’s when I spoke with one of my mentors, who was the vice president of a large corporation and had weathered many such storms. He gave me a piece of wisdom I will never forget: 

“One of the things you have to understand,” he told me, “is that people change as they age. Who you knew them to be when they were younger is not who they will be when they are older.”

In the decades since he told me that, I’ve learned that it’s truer than I could have imagined. Aging is one of life’s greatest tests. Every dimension of our lives—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—will be challenged by Father Time. 

Through experience and observation, I’ve learned that Father Time demands a response. Our choices are our destiny: we can adapt or we can resist; we can innovate or we can stagnate. While we don’t always get to choose which challenges come as we enter new stages of life, we can choose how we will respond to them.

This is the chemistry of aging, and it will change us all. Some of us will dream bigger, chasing visions of a better world. Others will grow weary and retreat, seeking comfort and ease.

God’s vision is that we enter each stage of our lives in pursuit of him and his purpose:

Now the years passed and Joshua grew old; and one day the Eternal came to him. Eternal One (to Joshua): You have grown old and there is still work to do, for part of the land I have promised has yet to be conquered.

Joshua 13:1 Voice

At every age, God still has work for us to do. He has a vision for us. It is our spiritual vision that keeps us strong, energized, and vital no matter how old we are. Without this vision, we age prematurely. We should be flourishing, but we choose to retreat because something inside of us has perished:

Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 KJ21

My concern today is that many of us who are older have given up on this vision. Our faith is withering under the challenges of aging rather than being renewed by our belief that we can make a difference in the world. 

Yet even as this happens, a generation is arising that is in crisis, experiencing more stress and poorer mental health than we ever did. This generation needs us. There is still work for us to do.

When we invite God into our aging process, we can enter every new stage with faith and vision. The spiritual chemistry of aging is about how spirituality can become a catalyst for facing the difficulties of life with faith. As a result, we can help those who are experiencing crisis.

Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

Psalm 71:18 NLT

So how do we do this? Today, we’ll explore the challenge and the catalyst for aging spiritually, and next week we’ll address the crisis.

Notebooks open. Let’s see what we can learn today. 

The challenge

The challenge we all face as we age is continually choosing the path of faith. What steals our vision is not suffering or hardship, but how we choose to handle it. Those who hold onto God’s vision as they age are renewed internally regardless of difficulty:

That is why we do not waver; indeed, though this outer human nature of ours may be falling into decay, at the same time our inner human nature is renewed day by day. [17] The temporary, light burden of our hardships is earning us for ever an utterly incomparable, eternal weight of glory, [18] since what we aim for is not visible but invisible. Visible things are transitory, but invisible things eternal. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NJB

Though aging might bring decay to our physical bodies, our faith does not need to waver. When we experience decay and suffering, the question we need to ask ourselves is not “Why is this happening to me?” but instead “What should I be developing at this stage in my life? What am I going to do with the time I have?” 

Aging becomes an exciting process rather than a dreaded one when we let God determine our steps and shape our vision. 

​​We wish you could see how all this is working out for your benefit, and how the more grace God gives, the more thanksgiving will redound to his glory. This is the reason why we never collapse. The outward man does indeed suffer wear and tear, but every day the inward man receives fresh strength. These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain…

2 Corinthians 4:15-18 JB Phillips, New Testament

The JB Phillips translation of 2 Corinthians 4 shows us what happens when we keep God at the center of our lives as we age. Through suffering and hardship, we receive fresh strength. 

If we are not experiencing this refreshed strength, we may be tempted to point to the wear and tear of our bodies and minds. But this passage tells us something different: if we are not receiving fresh inward strength every day, we are missing something in our walk with God. Are we reading the Bible to know him and praying to let him know us? Are we involved in spiritual friendships that push us to be connected to him? 

The challenge each of us faces as we grow older is to keep engaging with God and other people in a way that renews us deeply. 

The catalyst

When we keep God at the center of our lives as we age, the results are powerful. 

We develop spiritual resilience, bouncing back from any discouragement or disappointment: 

Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed, or afraid]. Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16 AMP

We grow in spiritual endurance, pushing past any obstacle or limitation:

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.

2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT

And through aging, difficulty, failure, and loss, the intimate chemistry of our relationship with God can make us more than conquerors through our faith in him:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37 NIV

As we make decisions to keep God at the center, he develops within us a spirituality that becomes the catalyst for a life of purpose and vision at any age.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:11 NIV

As we go into our week, let’s take time to consider how we are aging. 

• Am I making decisions to keep or lose my faith? 
• What vision has God put on my heart to keep growing at this stage of my life?
• What needs to change in my relationship with God so that I develop resilience and endurance?
• Who would benefit from my decision to not give up or lose faith?

I hope you’ll join me in the fight to keep having faith and embrace the chemistry of aging. We have so much work to do, and I can’t wait to get started.

Next week: Conquering the crisis

When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.

Proverbs 10:25 NLT

As I mentioned before, there is a generation arising that is in crisis. Though the storms of life come to us all, the storms our young people are facing are especially tumultuous. We need to first make God our foundation, and then teach those after us to do the same; otherwise our families will suffer for it. In next week’s newsletter, I’ll explain my hypothesis that families today are breaking under pressure because we believe in the myth of the perfect family. 

Join me next week as we discover together how to break the myth of perfection and embrace the vision God has for us at every stage of life.

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