A little over a week ago I turned 60 years of age.  It was never an event I daydreamed about.  I visualised being a bride.  I dreamt of being a mother.  I did not ever contemplate the joy I’d feel about good quality tea towels, a comfortable lounge chair, and a kneeling pad for gardening!

What is a Spring Chicken?

Out of interest, I searched the internet for the term spring chicken.  Spring chickens typically mean young chickens, which are available in the springtime.  Farmers coined the term ‘no spring chicken’ for chicks that did not sell during the spring.  They’d age through the winter and become less profitable.  Yeah, nah, I’m no spring chicken but I don’t want to be likened to a useless old chook!

Like an Eagle

I love to pray Psalm 103 most days.  It’s a Psalm written by King David, most likely in his later years.  In verse 5 he writes:

            Who satisfies your years with good things,

            So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

God is the one who brings true satisfaction to our lives through good things.  And it’s this satisfaction that becomes a source of strength and energy.  God renews us so we are like an eagle, buoyant and with tireless strength.  Now that’s a picture I can get excited about!

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;

            They will mount up with wings like eagles,

            They will run and not get tired,

            They will walk and not become weary.

                                                                                    Isaiah 40:31

My strength is renewed as I wait on the Lord. That word renew means to ‘keep putting on fresh strength’ so the Lord can give me the strength to soar above everything else.

How Do You Wait on the Lord?

It’s not passively sitting back and waiting for God to do something.  Certainly, I must trust Him but I wait on the Lord by actively seeking Him through prayer and reading His Word no matter how I feel. 

This milestone of turning 60 has been more challenging for me than any other.  I’ve had to face the realisation that I have slowed down and my body complains about movement that was effortless a few years ago. I have lived for a longer time than what I have left even if I were to live to be 100.  But God is in control of my life and waiting on Him will fill me with faith and strength so I will soar like an eagle and not scratch around like a spring chicken…or a winter one!