"I've wasted my life. It's too late to matter to God now."
How it sounds in your head: You're 85. What could you possibly do for God now? Your productive years are gone. You had your chance and you didn't do enough. All you are now is a burden, waiting to die.
"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust."
-- Joel 2:25Enemy condemnation paired with youth-obsessed culture that measures worth by productivity and performance.
Every mirror shows diminishing capacity. The church celebrates young missionaries while she sits in assisted living, unable to even drive herself to service anymore.
Anna was 84 years old, widowed for decades, just waiting in the temple. In ONE MOMENT of seeing baby Jesus, she became the first female evangelist of the Messiah, speaking of Him to all Jerusalem. Her most significant ministry happened at the age most consider 'finished.'
I REFUSE the lie that my age disqualifies me from God's purposes. IT IS WRITTEN that He restores the years the locust has eaten—and I receive that restoration NOW. My value has never been in what I produce but in whose I am. IT IS WRITTEN in Galatians 3:29 that I am Abraham's seed and heir according to PROMISE, and the BARAK blessing over Abraham protected him even when he lied—how much more does it cover me in Christ! I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and His plans for me are good regardless of my age. I declare that like Anna at 84, my most significant moments may still be ahead. I am His beloved daughter, period.
The Father isn't checking your productivity reports or lamenting wasted years. He's running toward you RIGHT NOW with the robe and ring, celebrating that you're His daughter today, calling you beloved, seeing you as the righteousness of God in Christ—not because of what you've done but because of what HE did.