A simple flashlight won't do it

A friend told me that living the Christian life should get easier as one gets older. I know I’m getting older, but the easy part seems to be missing. Walking with God is more difficult now, with more tests, more struggles, more temptation to quit.

Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

In less figurative language, that means the older I get, as I walk in the light God gives me, His light will increase as I go on my way. His light not only shows the path ahead, but also reveals all sorts of other stuff, some of which is painful to see and difficult to deal with. There are days when I’d like to turn around and run back the way I came.

But the next verse says, “The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

I don’t want that. I stumble too, but the light from God reveals why. He shows me sinful attitudes and selfish tendencies, and gets quite specific about it. Whoever said ignorance is bliss might have had this in mind, but when I consider what life would be like without this bright light that won’t leave me alone, I’m thankful.

At least with God’s light, the Lord also gives the power to change. Proverbs 24:5 says, “A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength.” If God didn’t give me the knowledge of my sin and weaknesses, I could never overcome it or be strong.

My dad often said, “There is no fool like an old fool.” He was right. What a shame to go through life and never learn any of its lessons. With God, the light for learning is always available, and like walking a path with a flashlight, as soon as I step into the light I have, I get more for the path ahead.

The path is never what I expect, though. We joke about being over the hill, but I don’t see that metaphor in the Bible. Our journey is never downhill, but upward toward God, at least if we belong to Him.

Scripture talks of aged people as perhaps physically feeble, but we can be either foolish or wise. In our life journey, if we walk with God, He says we are wise. As for the feeble part, God promises this: “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Getting older might mean a decline in memory, muscles and mobility, but with God I can rely on two things: light for the path and strength to walk it. The light helps me see my growing need of His strength for a path that is uphill and requires a constant battle if I am to “fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith.”

The opposite to increasing light is increasing darkness, not knowing why I fail and fall, and eventually giving up and forgetting about God. No matter how bright the light and steep the path, I’d rather have these uphill challenges (God, keep me from complaining) than drift to the alternatives.