Acts20.com

Recently, as is my wont, I was reflecting on my life. I realized that, at my advanced age (54), I have not made the difference I wanted to make in this world. Worse, I realized that I am not likely to EVER make the difference I had wanted to make.As I was thinking on this, it came to me that I will have to make a different kind of difference than the one in my Plan A. At my age, I am not going to have 30 years to plant, grow, build a church. To reach the CEO level of the corporate world. To make boatloads of money and retire 20 years early. You get the idea.So I will have to make a different kind of difference if I want to make a difference at all.More importantly, it may be that this different kind of difference was the one that the Lord wanted me to make all along...but has had to wait until my own aspirations had cooled and/or died.

I am 70 but at 59 I experienced that. You described it so well. I found that for 45 years God had arranged arrested development with me to be uncovered/discovered in Dec 2005. My struggle came from God's arrangement to wait until my own aspirations had cooled and/or died.

Aaron,Read Carl Richardson's Second Wind.It has a lot of inspiring stories for guys our age

Aaron, I like to joke that I started my mid-life crisis early since I wasn't sure how long I would live. (I mean if you are only going to live to be 50, don't you have to have your mid-life crisis at 25?)Yes, I know exactly what you mean by having to recalibrate. When you are young, everything is a possibility, but the possibilities do narrow as time passes. But being realistic is a good thing and is a real boon to effective planning, I think.

Don't be so down on yaself there, Aaron. Son, you've made a difference, an its been a different kinda difference. You one a the few COG boys what still defends WOF teachin/practice/belief/etc., an gives Copeland and his ilk a pass.

I know exactly...

...how you feel. I am living it right now. I just turned 62 and realize that my dreams of doing certain things were just that; my dreams.I climbed much higher in the corporate world than I ever dreamed I would but couldn't wait to leave it all behind. I've preached all over but never felt that I reached the level I would have liked to have reached. Again, my desires only.So now I look to a new future, one that hopefully wisdom will direct me in instead of myself. One thing for certain, I am looking forward to the next chapter “Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”