Still Life - Guest Liz Curtis-Higgs

 

 

There is Still Life  - Guest Liz Curtis-Higgs

Via (in)courage 

The IF:Gathering in Austin. I know how I got there — a car, a plane, and an airport shuttle — but I wasn’t sure how I got there. How I ended up at a weekend event with two thousand women younger than me. Much younger. My daughter’s age. Even younger.

Oh my.

I looked around the crowded theater, trying not to be totally intimidated by the skinny jeans and tall boots and thick hair. All around me, beautiful sisters in Christ leaned in to soak up God’s Word, then laid down their burdens to lift their hands in praise.

These young women came to do serious business with God.

Their sincerity touched me. Their devotion humbled me. Their compassion inspired me.

If you’ve ever fretted about the future of the Church, relax. God’s got this - - For our generation and the next generation and the one after that. And all the rest, until He comes.

In the closing minutes of the conference, we were asked to write a word on a rock, indicating our next step of faith. I found a Sharpie and wrote Still, not entirely sure what that was about. Be still? Stand still? Still the One?

Several of us were invited to share our words and what they meant. I said yes, because that’s my M.O., but then I kinda panicked. For the first time in my speaking career, I stood in front of a microphone having no idea what I was going to say.

“My name is Liz.” Seemed a safe place to begin.

 

“And my word is ‘Still.’” A short pause.

You want me to say what, Lord?

I swallowed hard. “I am 60 and I am silver and I am supersized and I am still a Jesus Girl.”

Their applause helped me find the courage to say the rest. “I came here to see if that was still true. And I prayed, sitting way up there in the last row, ‘Lord, do I still have something to give?’”

I looked at the bright-eyed girls sitting in front of me, and said, “Because if I don’t have something to give, then you will be scared about getting older.”

I saw it in their faces. The joy of youth mingled with the fear of what’s next.

Now, I knew why God brought me there.

“I want to tell you, if you’re looking at 30 and you’re scared, you still got it. If you’re looking at 40 and you’re scared, you still got it.”

My voice grew stronger, as I held out my rock. “If you’re 50, 60, 70, 80, God STILL has something for you to do for the Kingdom.”

He does, beloved. Something you are uniquely called and equipped to do.

When we’re young, we imagine life will be like a bell curve. We’ll climb upward, enjoy being on top of our game for a few years, then steadily decline, until we quietly slip out of sight.

That’s not at all what God has in mind. Our life in Christ and our service to Him is ever ascending, moving forward and upward, gaining strength and momentum. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” {2 Corinthians 4:16}.

The Holy Spirit never weakens, wearies, ages, or atrophies. No way. He renews, refreshes, builds up, and fills up. As our love for the Lord increases and our knowledge of His Word deepens, we have more to offer the body of Christ, not less.

That’s why Paul urges us to press on, show up, keep going. “Forgetting what is behind and staining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” {Philippians 3:13-14}.

Whatever the date of birth on our driver’s license, God has work for us to do. Still.

Share on Twitter:  Whatever the date of birth on our driver’s license, God has work for us to do. Still. {Tweet this!}