What Should I Do?
Shortly before Covid hit in 2020, I began thinking about retirement. I’d been working for decades in children’s ministry, teaching in a Christian school and Sunday School and VBS, and I was getting tired. My energy level and my patience were not what they once were (and if you know anything about working with children, you need a lot of both), so I knew it was time to step back. My entire career was in Christian education, so the pay had been lower than public schools and there was no pension. We’d be living on Social Security alone.
But my primary concern wasn’t financial. The Lord had always taken care of our needs, sometimes in miraculous ways, and I still trusted Him for that. I was more concerned with the emotional impact. What would it be like to no longer have a job? What would I do? I’d heard lots of men say they looked forward to retiring and doing nothing, but I knew that for me the novelty of that would wear off pretty quick. I had purpose when I was working. I had a strong sense of identity as a teacher. It was part of who I was. Would I lose all that when I retired?
I had a feeling that this transition would have a big emotional impact and wanted to prepare myself for those changes. So I began looking at books related to retirement. What I found was disappointing. Virtually all of them dealt solely with the issue of finances, with titles like How To Retire On Half A Million or Putting Your Portfolio To Work In Your Retirement (I made up those titles, but you get the idea). None of these had any bearing on my reality. And none of them dealt with the emotional effects of retirement on men.
What Does The Bible Say About Retirement?
What Does The Bible Say About Retirement?The Bible has been my compass most of my life. But the word retirement does not appear in the Bible. It’s a relatively modern concept, for in the ancient world life was hard and it simply wasn’t a possibility.
In fact there is only one place in God’s Word that hints of retirement, and that is in Numbers 8:23-25, “The Lord said to Moses, “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work…”
God made provision for the Levites to cease their priestly duties at the age of 50, though they could perform less demanding work if they wished (notice may, not must).
What if I’m not a Levite? Does God expect me to work till I wear out?
I don’t think so. There are no other specific references to retirement in scripture, but there are biblical principles that apply. For example, Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “For everything there is a season…” Seasons don’t last forever; they change. This would indicate that it is perfectly okay to transition from a season of full-time paid employment to another season of life.
Furthermore, there are numerous instances where God says He will care for the elderly (rather than provision by paid employment). Isaiah 46:4 states, “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.” And Psalm 37:25 assures us, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
Another key principle is found in Psalm 92. Here the righteous are being compared to strong, flourishing trees like the palm and the cedar. Psalm 92:14 notes, “They will still bear fruit in old age…” (emphasis added). This is important, because for many Americans retirement is seen as a time devoted solely to pleasure-seeking and leisure. This is not biblical. Even though we may no longer be in a 9-to-5 paid job, God still expects His children to serve him. The Great Commission does not expire at age 65 or older.
So I was correct in feeling that there was more to retirement than collecting Social Security. I didn’t want to just stop working; I wanted to transition to a new season where I would have the time and freedom to enjoy new friendships and new ways to be productive for the Kingdom.
(For a short but informative article on this topic, check out “What is the Christian view of retirement?”)
A Word From The Lord
A Word From The LordOne day I found out about a conference on moving in the spiritual gifts. It sounded interesting, so I went. On the second day of the conference, a young woman approached me and said, “I think I have a word from the Lord for you.”
I was willing to listen so she went on, “I believe the Lord would tell you to stir up the gift He’s given you. And I see you riding in a red sports car and laughing.”
The second sentence made no sense to me at the time, though a few years later I understood what it meant (more on that later). But something immediately clicked in my spirit with the first sentence, because I knew the gift He had given me. It had been dormant for decades.
Even as a young boy, I loved to write. When I was in elementary school, I would write stories and illustrate them and make little books. I would write plays that my sisters and I would perform for the neighborhood kids in our basement. In high school my favorite class was Creative Writing.
John-Boy And Me
John-Boy And MeAnd then there was The Waltons, a TV series which began in my junior year of high school and ran for nine years. For those of you who may not remember that far back, the show was about a large multigenerational family living through the hardships of the Great Depression in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The main character was John-Boy, a thin teenager who wore wire-rim glasses and loved to write. It was like seeing myself on the screen. I had an instant affinity for the character and never missed an episode.
John-Boy dreamed of being a writer, and I did, too. But then life happened. College, marriage, fatherhood, teaching, being on the leadership team of my church, serving on committees in the Christian campground where I lived– my responsibilities kept growing and my free time for writing kept dwindling. By the time I was in my early thirties I had stopped writing altogether.
Now here I was, thirty years later, on the verge of retirement, and God was telling me to stir up the gift. As I prayed about that, a vision began to form about this blog. My computer skills were laughably lacking, but Covid opened up a wealth of online training opportunities for free, and I went from being a teacher to being a student. I enjoyed being on the other side of the desk, and began to gain the skills I would need to write and publish an online blog.
The End Is The Beginning
The End Is The BeginningI discovered, to my immense relief, that God’s plans and purposes for me didn’t end with the paychecks. I had a new mission now (although in a sense I’m still teaching!) I know now that for the Christian, retirement doesn’t have to be “The End.” God just moves you from one mission field to another, if you’re willing. God always has good works for His people to do, regardless of age. I didn’t retire from something, I retired to something. That has made all the difference for me, and I believe that’s the secret of a happy retirement.
I know you’re wondering, “What about that red sports car?” I believe that was symbolic of new journeys and new adventures that I would be enjoying as I walked in obedience to God. The blog has opened up other opportunities for me to do things that I never thought I would do, such as public speaking and being part of a series of webinars on trauma. As I continue, I can see other doors opening for me in the future, and it’s exciting.
Don’t dread the retirement years. Rather than fearing retirement, thinking it will be dull and boring, see it as a transition to something new. If you’re already in retirement and find yourself bored, ask God what He would have you do. You may be surprised at His answer. I know I was!
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