Even When You’re Old

Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.

Psalm 92:14

AS DOROTHY BEGAN to age and her health gradually deteriorated, she couldn’t get around much. Her husband pastored a church, as he had for many years, but Dorothy could no longer even go to church with him.

Still, Dorothy had a vital ministry from home. She cheerfully talked of the Lord with her children, her grandchildren, and their friends. She ministered to many from her husband’s congregation over the phone. She sent notes of encouragement and cards to mark special events in people’s lives. And she prayed for others.

When this diminutive woman died after more than a decade of being mostly homebound, people stood in line for hours to tell her family how much she had ministered to them, and her funeral was packed.

You’ve probably known people like Dorothy. People who may not be able to do what they could in their younger years, but as they age, even increase their ministry. Whether it’s taking their RV and ministering at mission sites around the country, volunteering to help in the church office, or being a hospice counselor, they realize their age and physical limitations aren’t going to give them an excuse not to serve the Lord.

Whether we’re old or young, God has a job for us to do—and a blessing to pour on our lives for doing it.