It is sometimes fun to imagine what life would be like if God answered all my prayers. Would it not be incredible to have every person I prayed for healed and every situation resolved? How empowering would it be to mold and shape outcomes the way you wanted?

The truth is that you do have the ear of the eternal God only a conversation away. The power is available to you. 

It will just not work out the way you wanted. Instead, it will result in something better than you imagined. 

It is fun to dream of a world where we get everything we want, but the reality is that it would be disastrous. Part of faith is trusting that God has a better plan for the world than I do. 

When I was 22 years old, I knew it all. I was intolerant of people who did not see the world the way I did. I studied the scripture in college, read the latest books on how to do Church, and was on the cutting edge of culture. The result was that I often spoke without compassion or grace.

When I was 35, I realized I knew less. I had four young boys, a struggling marriage, and limited success in my career. No longer was I sure about some of the scripture passages because they raised more questions than I could answer. In addition, I no longer knew much about the culture that did not come from Disney’s animated movies I watched with my children. The result was that I still spoke with confidence, but I was learning to take it easy on people who did not see things my way.

Now that I am 50, I have realized how little I know. My boys are grown and making their own decisions, and I feel very little control. My marriage has more good days than bad, and I know I will no longer lead a large Church. Most of my knowledge of culture is second-hand from my children and conversations with people younger than myself. The result is that I am sure of what I believe, but I try to be more compassionate than ever. I recognize the need for grace in my life, and I am much more willing to give it to others.

I do not know what the next 25 years hold, but I desire to continue aging with grace. It is essential to develop firm convictions and know both what and why you believe. It is equally significant that we become more kind, generous, compassionate, forgiving, and full of grace with each passing year.

It is my conviction that the Church should have the most wonderful senior adults in the world. They should be people who have walked with Jesus long enough to be the kind of people others want to be around and eventually become.

There are two ways people understand the scripture. 

One way is with your head. You read, study, learn and fill your brain. The goal is to gain as much biblical knowledge as possible. 

The second way is with your heart. You can feel what the passage means because of life experience. For example, you know how good it feels to be forgiven by someone or encouraged when down. 

Don’t get me wrong; I am not encouraging you to bypass your head. On the contrary, I do hope you think deeply about the things of God. But the lessons that last the longest will always be those that have touched you emotionally. 

Always think about God, but be sure you do not disconnect your heart from your head.