Senior Life

Dan Williams serves as Seniors Minister at Lexington Baptist Church. He will be writing regularly about the concerns and interests of seniors in our community.

W hether or not we have good eyesight, we can improve the way we see. I know some young people today run around with unusual levels of insight. But for most of us, the ability to see clearly improves with age. Yes, we become “older and wiser” or at least “older and more knowledgeable” or maybe “older and less ignorant” but hopefully not just “older.” Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Numbering our days means protectively embracing each and every day of life, being careful not to waste any days in meaningless existence. Our accumulation of cherished numbered days will result in “wisdom” which means, “seeing things from God’s perspective.” God’s view is all-encompassing. He sees the world in its true light and from every angle. How do we even begin to approach that kind of wisdom? I remember sitting in a class at Furman University in the mid 70s when a professor asked the question, “What is your world view?” I honestly didn’t know what he was talking about but began to realize that I did not have a world view, only a very small, short-term and local view of life. How do we see from God’s perspective? To start with, God is Spirit, so we need to learn to see with “Spirit Eyes.” We need to develop a world view that sees events against a backdrop of generations and not just in real time. A person with wisdom can decide whether or not to get upset about things because of the ability to see the impact down the road of words spoken, trends set, laws created, or values changed. Embrace your senior adulthood, its vantage point will offer greater vision. Contact Dan Williams with questions or suggestions at dan@lexingtonbaptist.org .