Walking around the buildings at my working place during my lunchtime break, I rant into an old acquaintance. We chatted a little bit on topics such as family and work. He told me that he was shocked from this RA (Resource Action) in his department. They were hit hard and consequently he has to pick up more workloads from his let-go colleagues. Worse thing is now he has to work on weekends. So, he sighed, “There is no fun in working here anymore, I would retire this time if my kids were not still in college.” “Me too!” I responded.

Thinking about retirement is a natural thought as we progress through our journey of life. When I came to the States for my study, my wife gifted me a book titled, “How to be successful in your age of 40”. I was laughing at it and told her that you will probably be disappointed because at that time, I was still searching for my direction of life.  Many years have passed, I finally have a better sense of where my direction of life and where my success should be – it is in Him, my Lord Jesus.

During my son’s graduation ceremony, one of his Board of Education members gave a speech titled “How to be successful in your life journey”.  She used her experience, as a foreigner came to the States for study, to encourage the graduates. Her speech focused on self- motivation and persistence in achieving goals. I shared her experience but I find that is a painful human effort. George MacDonald, a Scottish novelist, poet, and Christian minister, once said, “In whatever a man does without God, he must fail miserably—or succeed more miserably若人所作的沒有神的同在，不是慘遭失敗，便是悲慘地成功。”My life experience says all.

In this world, we feel less useful when we are getting old – our physical strength decays, our health degrades, our brains are not sharp anymore. You may be “successful” in climbing corporate ladders and you may have good wealth accumulated, but can you carry them to your after life? Job, after receiving all the trials and tests from the evil one, realized that “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. 我赤身出於母胎、也必赤身歸回．賞賜的是耶和華．收取的也是耶和華。耶和華的名是應當稱頌的 (Job 1:21)” Isn’t this a realization of our life too?

My dear friends, in this world, we may feel less useful in our old age or let go from our position at work, it is however a totally different picture in God’s kingdom. The question is do you want to fail miserably or succeed more miserably. Psalmist told us “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green義人要發旺如棕樹，生長如黎巴嫩的香柏樹‧他們栽於耶和華的殿中，發旺在我們神的院裡‧他們年老的時候，仍要結果子‧要滿了汁漿而常發青‧(Psalm 92:12-14)” May you have the opportunity to know Him personally. He promised that He will love you and will never forsake you.