Your Age Does Not Disqualify You: A Word from Job

Hi friends! Today's post is short and encouraging. A few weeks ago, I read the book of Job. And while there is a lot to take from Job, these two verses at the end of the book stood out to me the most.

"And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10

"Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning..." Job 42:12

The Lord blessed Job in his latter days more than his beginning. This verse makes me think of my grandmother who is in her latter days, who has lost a son to cancer, her husband of over fifty years, and a great-grandson to cancer. She has witnessed her family members grieve, and has grieved her own losses. And yet, she has found joy in her latter days. She has found purpose in her latter days. She is blessed in her latter days. In a way this post is inspired by her and Job's story.

Never think that the Lord is done blessing you. Never think that your best days are behind you. Never think you're too old to see the goodness of the Lord manifest in your life. Your age does not disqualify you from new blessings. Your age does not disqualify you from joy, purpose, companionship, and anything else you're seeking.

Whether you're 80+ and in your latter days, approaching 50 and wondering what's left for you, or like me, in her early thirties fearful of a ticking biological clock--your age does not disqualify you. I related to that verse as much as anyone. I needed that verse as much as anyone.

One thing worth noting though is what preceded the Lord's blessing. Job prayed for his friends. Job lost everything except his faith. He continued to pray to the Lord despite being depressed, despite longing for death. And when the Lord told him to pray for his friends who had misunderstood and condemned him, he obeyed. Job's prayer was not only him becoming an intercessor for those who had wounded him, it was an act of obedience to the very God he'd spent so much time feeling forsaken by.

Job demonstrated faithfulness and humility despite having every reason to turn his back on God, and the Lord blessed him for it.

While this post is a reminder that as long as there is breath in your lungs the Lord isn't done with you yet, it's also a call to faithfulness and humility. Like Job, we are almost guarenteed to experience suffering, losses, confusion, rejection, declining health, fractured relationships and more. Like Job, we may never receive an answer from God as to why certain things were allowed to occur in our lives. Like Job, we must remain faithful to the Lord. We must remain humble enough to say I need you, God. We must remain obedient enough to pray through the trial and to pray for those who try us.

Our God is not a bargaining God. We do not earn blessings. The Lord is worthy of our obedience and faithfulness regardless of if He restores what was lost or blesses us. And yet, the Lord does restore. The Lord does bless. And no matter what you've been through, your best days can still be ahead of you. Believe it and it will be so.

God bless you.