Feature Image: Hiking along the stone path
Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash
Article Reference:
Marck Hackett discusses the complex and thorny issue of when older leaders refuse to pass the torch. Do we show wisdom in allowing others to step up? Moses sets us an example in his passing and Joshua stepping up.
https://www.markhackett.com/writings/from-dust-to-dust-we-turn
A.I. generated image Night Cafe Studio: Moses sees the Promised Land before God brings Him home to eternity.
Reminders
Everything comes to an end
All things come to an end. Ministries fade and churches close due to aging and lack of new members. Age, experience, and wisdom don’t stop this inevitable process. Often the slow decline is due to years of unwise decisions and choices to remain safe, comfortable, and ultimately stagnant.
God calls Moses home and establishes Joshua as the leader of the Hebrew people. Even great prophets and leaders have faults! Moses was disobedient and God bans him from the promised land. Why God punishes Moses:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Moses-promised-land.html
Mark references Psalm 90. Psalm 90 is a prayer attributed to Moses.
https://www.biblehub.com/bsb/psalms/90.htm
Quote 1
“Everything eventually comes to an end, including our lives. Longer years can bring us knowledge, but longer years are neither guaranteed to provide wisdom nor do they leave us in a position that only we can fix it. Handling our inevitable return to dust poorly can cause us to behave as if our days are not in fact numbered.”
Solution: we need to realize that our time ends and work actively to invest in younger ones: mentoring, encouraging, setting an example, letting someone else speak, teach, or shine!
Canva Pro Stock image: man praying on mountain.
Futility of Control
Quote 2
“Our subconscious seems to know better though. As time marches on, the anxiety, anger, and frustrations mount as we come to understand —sometimes too late— that the world was never going to turn out the way we wanted it to. All those years spent trying to control what we can’t were for naught.”
This quote hits hard for those who enjoy making plans and setting goals, long term objectives, and seeing progress. As I age, I find myself more frustrated and feeling powerless. This feeling of powerlessness signals an awakening to truth: it never was my role or purpose to change others or myself. That is the role of God’s Holy Spirit!
Anxiety and anger are warning signs of something deeper. Just like the check engine light on your vehicle’s dashboard. It indicates something isn’t working, something needs to be reset, replaced, and checked out before damage occurs. Anxiety signals that we are out of alignment.
The need and desire for control are ways that we attempt to manage people, situations, etc. Why might someone feel the need for control? Past hurts, disappointments, and unhealed core wounds influence how we perceive and respond to the environment and people in our lives.
Solution: daily reflection, recognizing this pattern in our thoughts, and actions. Learned from ministry leadership to allow others to make decisions, actively listen, ask questions, reflect often, sit with others patiently and act on their suggestions. Having a wise mentor and accountability partner assists with recognizing these “blind” spots or tendencies!
Photo by Michael Held on Unsplash
The Way Forward
Mark gives us these wise and encouraging insights
Accept God’s love and compassion: offer up and wait in faith
“We begin by accepting the love and compassion of God, who reminds us the world we have today is not the world as it was meant to be. We humans can make progress, and we should, but we must also remember that much remains outside of our control. We offer that up to the Lord while we do what we can and wait on Him.”
Mary De Milo explains how Jesus models letting go in faith:
Detachment doesn’t mean not caring or engaging with others! Healthy detachment involves trusting God and aligning ourselves as Jesus aligned Himself with His Heavenly Father during His ministry period.
Moses accepts his death and God’s plan for Joshua to succeed him.
Moses’ encouraging words and actions with Joshua: Deuteronomy 31 Berean Standard Bible
“7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
Moses accepts God’s plan and closes Deuteronomy with blessings and reminds the people to follow and trust in God.
A.I generated image. This is what I imagine it must have been like for Moses as God takes Him home. There is the bright light of God’s presence and the understanding that all will be well as Moses transitions into a better place, a place of being with God after a hard journey.
Encouraging Perspective:
“When we try to do that, we can start to see that there is much to be encouraged by. Some are already doing what they can in this time between the times. New and younger churches are being planted outside of traditional evangelical Boomer networks. Some are even attracting aging Boomers who are exhausted with the way things are. Younger people are running for elected office despite being told by older folks it’s not their turn yet. Others of us in high-energy spaces are already passing torches after realizing our most youthful years are coming to a close.”
God isn’t done, His Kingdom and Gospel prevails even in the dark times of history! Let us walk with Him and love those He places in our daily paths.
Words of Grace & Hope 