A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
“Many people in their ’40’s and ’50’s,” my pastor said the other day, “regret decisions they made in their ’20’s and ’30’s.” I ruefully thought, “You’re right, Pastor, but it gets worse when you get old, when you realize decisions you made fifty and sixty years ago are even more irreversible. It’s too late for me now to decide, ‘I’d better cut back on my spending so I’ll have money when I’m old.’ I’m already old!”
Ecclesiastes 12:1 says old age has its “evil days.” Evil days? Well, yes. In my old age, I can’t see well; I can’t hear well; I can’t walk without a cane; I can’t remember words. Those are real losses. (Please don’t misunderstand: I have found many wonderful treasures in my old age, more wonderful than I ever dreamed of—but today, let’s focus on the fact that decisions you make when you’re young will drastically affect your old age.)0 Here’s how the NIV translates Ecclesiastes 12:1:
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
Before the days of trouble come and the years approach
when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them.”
We all know that decisions have consequences. Many of them are unimportant; whether you eat a hamburger or a hot dog for supper, or whether you drive to town on I 385 or Augusta Road—simple choices you can make without a lot of thought.
Too often, under the pressure of the moment we make decisions without even thinking of the consequences. We might make them in the heat of anger or under an urgtent physical yearning. But those unpremeditated choices may come back to haunt us later.
What is our only protection? Remembering the God who created us with such love. Remembering Him right now. Remembering our Creator all day, every day. Being conscious of His sweet and holy presence. Listening for His voice in humility. Determining to do whatever it is our Heavenly Father tells us to do. He has a plan for us. He will show it to us if we want to find it. God Himself promises us this in Psalm 32:8-10:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one
who trusts in the LORD.
If we listen to the God who promised to instruct us, then in years to come, when the “evil days” of old age have arrived, we will have no regrets about the choices we made. We will be surrounded by the steadfast love of the Savior who redeemed us.