Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Recently, I had several (separate) conversations with guys my age where I talked about some of the dreams Katie and I have and some of the prayers we are praying about our future. As our kids continue to grow, we are asking God how to launch them best, what pastoral ministry as empty nesters look like, and for him to give us clarity about pastoral ministry in our 50s and beyond.

Why?

So much life is ahead of us; we don’t want to miss all God has for us. What you do today and your decisions impact where you are in a decade or two.

When I shared this, they responded, “I can’t remember the last time I dreamed.”

It makes sense. Life is busy and hard as we age. Cynicism starts to creep in, and we begin to think, “This is all there is.” 

I talk to many people in midlife who feel stuck or like their life has grown stale. Some of it is because of past decisions, but we often stop believing that God has things for us in the future. We start to think our best days are behind us. 

Why do we feel this way? Many of us are tired. We have less energy as we age, and it is hard to push ourselves. We have tried many things that didn’t work or go as planned, so there is a sense that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. 

Too often, though, people in midlife quit things. They quit relationships, marriages, careers, or faith because of their lack of direction, growing frustrations, or something else they can’t name. 

What if you took an afternoon and dreamed? What if you asked your spouse if all our prayers got answered, what would life look like in five years? Ten or twenty years from now? 

As I write this, our youngest will be twelve this summer. In 4 years, our four oldest kids will be out of high school. That is a very different stage of life than where I sit today with multiple kids in high school. Life, relationships, and pastoral ministry will differ greatly for us in 4 years from this simple fact.

But too many of us wake up one day and realize that life happened to us.

Here are some things that will be different: my schedule will be different in four years. Lord willing, I will have finished my doctorate by then. I will be four years older and have four more years of wisdom than I lack today. My physical life will be different because I will be closer to 50.

All this became even clearer to me several years ago when I spent a summer talking to pastors nearing retirement and asking them about wisdom, things they learned, and things they wish they would’ve done differently. They all said, “If you don’t plan financially, spiritually, physically, mentally, relationally, and emotionally for your future, you will miss all God has for you.”

Many of us only think about the physical or financial side of our future.

As more and more studies are done on life stages, our 50s, 60s, and 70s can be our most productive decades for God. And yet, many pastors and Christians seem to think that it is over once you are past 40.

My hope for you and me is that our best days are ahead of us, whatever those best days may be for you.