A Few Gray Hairs

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Yesterday I had laser surgery for secondary cataracts. This is a condition that has a low occurrence after cataract surgery when new lenses are implanted, which I had in 2015. The actual laser procedure takes less than a minute and is completely painless. The results are amazing, except for the floaters I now have that are supposed to settle down within a few days. The biggest difference is how much better my vision is in my left eye now than my right, which I always referred to as my “good eye.” However, the secondary cataract in the right eye isn’t big enough yet for the laser to work, so I have to wait until it is.

“Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4).”

We call it aging. Our hair turns silver, or in my case, snow white, lines appear on our faces, skin sags, our energy levels decrease, we have aches and pains, arthritis sets in, our hearing isn’t as good, and our vision begins to go. I always say old age isn’t for sissies! Everything around us seems to be geared toward the younger generations. Clothing, activities, music, movies etc. and while youth may be wasted on the young, it’s good to know that God loves us old folks.

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is with the aged and understanding in length of days (Job 12:7-12).”

There is something very comforting to me about being older; having the insanity of my youth behind me, and a wisdom that comes only from living life and learning from it. Being young is full of stress, worry, strife, difficulties, and each step forward seems fraught with an undiscernible future. Trying to reel life in isn’t easy, and none of us were born with an instruction booklet. It can feel as if we are just left to flounder on our own and hope it turns out all right. But growing older in life and growing up in the Lord at the same time is a wonderful place to be. Learning to live in your own skin, coming to grips with your regrets, and settling in to who you are instead of all the compartmentalized aspects of life is very comforting. In spite of the physical degeneration, life has never looked better.

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright;

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him (Psalm 92:12-15).”

Read Job 22-26

©2018 Marie McGaha