My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).
The older I get, the more I become aware of my own frailties. When we’re young, particularly if we’ve been blessed with good health and strength, we fall into the trap of thinking we’re invincible: someone else may step into the street and get mowed down by a truck; someone else might get cancer and die before their thirtieth birthday; someone else may drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of shooting hoops with friends. But not us.
If the One who numbers our days also grants us a long life on earth, all that faulty thinking and phony bravado will change. At some stage in our aging process, we come face to face with the fact that we most definitely are not invincible after all. The Scriptures make that perfectly clear in Hebrews 9:27, declaring that each of us has an appointment with death—and after that, the judgment. Of course, for those of us who have received Jesus as Savior, we don’t have to fear that judgment because Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and washed away our much deserved guilty verdict. As a result, when the appointed time comes that our flesh and heart fail, we need not fear, for “God is the strength of [our] heart and [our] portion forever.” What an encouraging and eternal promise!
A bonus to that promise is that we don’t have to wait until the moment of our death to rely on God’s strength; it is ours for the taking now, today, moment by moment, as we continue our homeward pilgrimage on earth. When we are physically weak or sick, we can depend on God to hold us in the palm of His nail-scarred hand as we rest in Him. When we are challenged beyond our physical or mental or emotional endurance, He stands ready to step in the moment we call on His Name.
Whether you’re facing challenges in your finances, your relationships, your health, or anything else, let the promise that “God is the strength of [your] heart” carry you through today…and always…until at last we pass from this life into His glorious, sweet presence.
I loved this story, my husband and I were talking about this the other day. Part of our grandchildren are grown and they think the way you described nothing will happen to them, even though school mates of theirs have been killed since they finished high school. As we look back at the age we are now we still feel as though we are the same, but when we look in the mirror we sure don't look the same, with wrinkles and shagging skin, as yet I don't have gray hair and it has never been colored, but I do look almost 68 which I will be in Feb, I feel it also, hurt all the time. May God bless and have a very Merry Christmas Kathi
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