Give Me This Mountain

“¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. ¹² Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day,” Joshua 14: 11, 12a

Caleb was 85 years old when he asked Joshua for the hill country(or mountain in some translations) that God had promised .  So why do we think that we can’t start anything new, or learn anything new after a certain age? Have you ever wondered about that? Maybe you have even told someone that you are too old to help out in an area.

Maybe it’s because I hit one of those decade markers this past year, you know the ones that end in zero, that I have been thinking about this more than usual. Or perhaps it is because I have started a new ministry role and am on a steep learning curve that I have wondered what I was thinking when I said yes to changing responsibilities at this late stage of the game. In any case, I have been encouraged by the example of Caleb who was still asking for enlarged borders and responsibilities at the age of 85.

When we moved into our new neighborhood two years ago after decades in a different area, it was our 90 something neighbors that first invited us over for coffee. They didn’t wait for someone else to invite us first.

Where are you at today? Do you feel like you are stuck and there is nothing new out there for you to do for the Lord? Or are you always asking Him for wisdom and guidance to see the opportunities before you, those places that are there for you to explore? Are there needs in your church or your neighborhood that you could uniquely meet regardless of your age?

Heavenly Father, thank you that in your scheme of things I am never too old for you to use me. Help me to see when to step out in faith and ask for that mountain that you have set before me. May I never give up running the race with endurance that you have set before me. Amen.