Though long life is a blessing and has an important purpose, it also is filled with loss and hardship. God’s promise is an encouragement, a very real hope, to see us through. Here are three that are repeated throughout scripture.
He is with us. While we continue on in the purpose He’s given, He is with us.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with My victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4
He sustains us. Our bodies will eventually fail but He strengthens and sustains our soul.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am He, I am He who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Eternity and a new body await. It is the hope that is to come.
And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:11
If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Romans 8:22-24
Life is not easy as we age. Our bodies and mind fail at things we used to find effortless. We suffer loss. But God is good. He is near, strengthening our spirit as we increasingly await the newness through our redemption in Him.
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. Philippians 3:20-23
