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Articles by Jack Canady |
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WHEN ARE YOU TOO OLD? Dear Leaders Chosen of God, We had flown in from the Kansas City area to be at a Couples Getaway with our missionaries in northern California. It was almost ten in the evening by the time we got to our motel. Our day had started with breakfast at the church so it had been a long one. Because of serious back problems Norma has a very different routine when we are home. Walking or standing is painful so she sits in her recliner at lot. Usually by 8:30 P.M she is prone in bed; not that she wants to. It is a necessity. We had enjoyed ourselves but she had pushed beyond her limits. I knew that my first job, after we got inside, was to get the bed ready. HOWEVER – we had to get to the room first. It was only fifty feet away, but, even with me on one side and her cane on the other, progress was very slow. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one looks at things, my sense of humor kicks in at moments like that. So I said, "Honey, if we go any slower we will be going backwards". Now I admit, your wife might be upset by a remark like that. Norma was not. For several seconds we were laughing so hard that she could not move at all. That was getting dangerous because nature was calling. Sometimes, if you do not laugh you will cry. Frankly we do some of both – but the emphasis is not on the tears. How do you handle things like that? Part of what is going on with us is that we are getting old. Some of you reading this are older. WHEN ARE YOU TO OLD to be God's leader? When Joseph introduced his father to Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the face of the earth at that time, the king of Egypt asked, "How old are you"? Jacob answered, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers," (Genesis47:9). Was Jacob TOO OLD to lead? Apparently not. The next words in the Bible are: "So Jacob blessed Pharaoh". A friend of mine was pastor of a large church in the south. God told him to step down. The first few months were hard. In their sixties he and his wife are now traveling all over the world ministering to missionaries, national leaders, and people in foreign cultures. He wrote from India. Another husband stepped down from being a pastor. In their seventies, he and his wife have started a missionary organization. Because of several strokes a lifelong friend of ours can no longer preach or teach – a hard blow. But it has stopped neither him or his wife. When we visited them a few months ago we were amazed at the ministry they have among the people in their retirement village. Another ministry God has opened up to him is that he uses his cell phone to call all over the country encouraging God's servants. A widower struggled with depression over the loss of his wife and best friend. He is now a pastor again. A small church in Florida is grateful to have him. The stories can go on and on. I believe that, when we are where God wants us to be in our relationship with Him and those around us, we do not stop leading until our heart beats the last time. Even when we are dying we should be leading. In His love, Pastor Jack |
Copyrights: Content (c) 2012 Circuit 'Riter Ministries. |
