Lately I have been thinking about life and death and the in between. Big thoughts. Of course, I have had a few thoughts like that occasionally, but recently they are more frequent and significant. It began rather randomly.
I was looking at pictures of people I knew when they were young. It literally blew me away at the difference between then and now. Several of them I wouldn’t even recognize if I had an unexpected meeting today. They are all like me. They are undergoing change they didn’t ask for. That which was once vibrant and very alive looking is fading away. Scripture tells us that all beauty is fading, though many of us try unsuccessfully to stop it.
My mother-in-law, a delightful and good woman, is in the last few days of her earthly life. For her it is her once bright and active mind that is fading away. She has dementia, and she doesn’t recognize her three beloved daughters at all.
I am experiencing fading myself. I am unable to do some things like I used to. It is a humbling experience; a sobering one. We can fight against aging and the losses that come with it as much as we want. But the success rate of fading is exceedingly high, and the last I knew, the death rate was 100%. It comes to all of us.
Paul tells Timothy the only guaranteed solution for our future and fading. It’s not the physical procedures, medicines, and workouts we try. He says, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
Paul assures us in another place, “Though our bodies are fading away, our inner person is being renewed” (2 Corinthians 4:16). We are more than our bodies.
Outward decay or fading refers to the physical body getting older, weaker, sick, or worn down by life's hard troubles
Inward renewal means God gives new spiritual strength, hope, and life to your soul every single day.
The apostle Paul wrote this to remind believers not to give up no matter what losses or struggles we face, because physical life is only temporary. However, spiritual life with God lasts forever and every investment we make in our spiritual life with God will last forever.
Whenever I see or hear or experience the feeling of fading, it is a reminder of what I’ve just talked about. It is a reminder that life here on earth is temporary.
I believe it is God’s grace reminding us of our most amazing future.
No doubt you have said to someone before, “Why didn’t you remind me?”
“Why didn’t you remind me because I wanted to be there?”
“I wanted to experience that.”
“It sounded so wonderful, I didn’t want to miss out.”
God is incredibly loving, His kindness is amazing, and He is full of grace. He doesn’t want us to miss any of the great gifts He has for us, let alone the things that last forever. So, our Father in His great love for us is constantly, in one way or another, reminding us that what we have here is all temporary, but what we have with Him is forever.
Next gray hair, next wrinkle, remember – on the outside I’m fading, but on the inside, I am getting better and better.