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Longevity is a word that is becoming less common in today’s culture. We want instant. Our food, our delivery services, and our social media apps all promise the instant gratification of “now.” The ever-increasing momentum of our spinning culture has caused us to become even further removed from the setting of our most loved Bible stories and characters. How do we begin to relate to such a time and place?
When I read through the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, Daniel, and others, I find a common thread. It was not the slow-paced setting that brought about longevity in the lives of these individuals, it was the working of God in their circumstances. The longevity of service that we see in the lives of men and women in the Scriptures came from a direct result of their relationship to God in the way He revealed Himself to them as they learned complete dependence upon Him.
God made a covenant with Abraham, and then brought him through a twenty-five-year waiting period for the promised son. God revealed Himself to Abraham as Covenant Keeper. God met Joseph in his dreams, and then carried him through years of betrayal and slavery. God revealed Himself to Joseph as Provider and Sustainer. Ruth first encountered God in the life of her mother-in-law, her suffered infertility for years, and the eventual death of her husband. She made a declaration of faith in Yahweh, and He revealed Himself to her as Kinsman Redeemer. God’s presence went with Daniel into exile for seventy years. From youth to old age, Daniel grew to be an old man in a pagan land. God revealed Himself to Daniel as the Rock of Ages.
Longevity isn’t dependent upon the time period in which we find ourselves in history. It’s dependent upon the God who meets us in the moments of our lives when we’ve come to the end of ourselves. Each place I know I can’t go on in my own strength, He gives me a greater revelation of Himself, and I move forward from glory to glory in the incomparable and matchless wonder of knowing Him.
How has God revealed Himself to you in the moments you felt you could not take another step forward?
At one of the lowest moments of my life, the only prayer I could pray was, “Jesus, have mercy.” I would pray it repeatedly when I didn’t have the strength to pray anything else. I have been a Christian since I was a little girl. I’ve known Jesus most of my life, but in that moment, I had no strength to do all the things I knew to do as a “good” Christian. I had come to the end of myself, the end of my strength and trying. I had never been in a place like that in my entire Christian walk with Jesus. The short and simple prayer, “Jesus, have mercy” left it up to Jesus. It would have to be up to Him. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t muster up any more strength in myself. I didn’t think the prayer would be enough. I didn’t think He would hear such a short, three-word prayer. But sure enough, slowly, over the next few days, the mercy of Jesus met me. He surprised me in quiet moments where I knew His peace. He surprised me in everyday activities where I sensed His presence. I knew I wasn’t alone. I knew He had heard me. His mercy came, and with it a greater revelation of Jesus as my merciful Savior.