June 3 - Grin and Bear It!

 Read today’s texts first: Proverbs 25-27; Romans 15

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY
 There’s no one more powerful than a praying grandma.

I long suspected it was true but now I know firsthand. Working with seniors has provided me with plenty of evidence to support this theory: as we get older, our attitudes intensify.

If we tend to be self-centered, we will likely become the stereotypical crotchety Mr. Wilson (neighbour to Dennis the Menace). Our world shrinks so we can’t see past our own needs, which, as we get older, become harder to satisfy. “Crotchety” sums it up: demanding, impatient, complaining, intolerant, judgmental, angry, and bitter.

On the other hand, if we care more for others than we do for ourselves, we will become the most endearing, inspirational, influential people on the planet. There’s no one more powerful than a praying grandma. I recently sat beside a dear saint, languishing in a hospital next to a bedside chart overflowing with untreatable problems, who seemed to have no concerns for herself. Everything she needed was met in her vibrant relationship with Jesus. As she sang with us, “God Will Take Care of You,” I believe she was thinking more of her grandson’s safety overseas than she was of her own needs. Her beautiful toothless smile and supernaturally strong singing voice inspired me more than the best sermon I’ve ever heard or preached!

The book of Proverbs is filled with promises for those who care for and give to others. Today, Solomon, with the same inspiration we find in the words of Jesus, took it to a whole new level: If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink (25:21). Our Romans passage says this: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself.....Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (15:1-4,7).

This then is the secret to a happy life, now, through our senior years (if God blesses us with long life), and on into eternity. Grin and bear it, but not in the fake way we normally apply that expression. Smile from the inside out and bear the burdens of others around you. “Lord, You showed me today if that’s the way I want to be when I am old, then I must choose to live that way today!”