Job 29:18-20
Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
my roots spread out to the waters,
with the dew all night on my branches,
my glory fresh with me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
Awe, the bliss of retirement! The only better, in the minds of some, than actual retirement, is the planning of retirement. We love to think about, plan for and rejoice over, retirement. In the above verse, Job gives us a glimpse of his retirement planning. He thought, in the R-World, he would die in "my nest." We don't know where or what Job's "nest" looked like. (it was probably a cottage on some lake with a patton boat). Where ever it was, Job's thought was that in the last days of his life He would have a place to rest in his nest. But, God had a different idea. He also thought he would live for a long time ... "multiply my days as the sand" ... was his thought. Yet, he didn't know his life would actual hang in the balance. But, God had a different idea. Job thought, "... my roots spread out to the waters ...". Job thought that his "roots", his children and heirs, would prosper all the way to the deep waters. He thought his many children would produce many more children. But, God had different ides. Job thought that in his "night" (the last days of life) the "dew" (the blessings from God ... like dew, it just comes as a result of no work from us) would land upon his "branches" (branches are not the root, but the fruit of his labor). Job had hoped that, in the end, the work he produced would continue to produce. Can you see Job imagining his stock portfolio? Job thought that the fruit of his life, in the end of his age, would continue to be blessed in a way that would benefit him. But, God had different ideas. Job also thought his health and stamina would not diminish. Note that he states, "... my glory fresh with me and my bow ever new in my hand." Job thought his strength and freshness would never cease. But, God had a different idea. The truth is, God has a different idea than we do for everything. God's Word does not teach the concept of "retirement." Caleb, when he entered the promise land, well above 80 years of age, didn't stop to put his feet up, only to gaze at that past. Caleb wanted a mountain, occupied by giants, that he was willing to share with his daughters and future son-in-laws. They only had to to want it and be willing to conquer it "with" Caleb, not for Caleb. Note his words in the historical accounts:
Joshua 14:11-12
I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
God does not have a retirement plan for us that includes most of what people plan for today. God's plan for us, no matter the time of our life, is the glorification of Him. Job's plans had taken the place of God in his life. He failed to remember that God is the one who we live for and not for ourselves. We might do something different at an older age and we might be able to do it with the same vigor, but we have the same goal in old age as we do in the younger days ... glorify God. For Job that meant suffering ... for now. Yet, God would change that, later, too ... God has a different idea.
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