Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Psalm 71: 18, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, we pray that Your everlasting love will sustain us. May Your Holy Presence now bless us, and lead us in ways of righteousness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
I feel impressed to say something more on this topic. I truly believe that each generation owe a debt of love to the generations that come after them. We need to be open and honest with the mistakes that we made, so that they do not have to fall into the same pits that we did. We need to be big enough to say, “You know, the truth is, we did not have all of the answers; and some of the answers that we had, were wrong. We stand to be corrected.”
I believe we need to show them our wounds. We were not all that tough. We fell and became bruised; and many did not have the courage to get up. But those who did, got up; and went on to greater triumphs, than their failures. We need to tell them, “You can do as well as we did, and better!”
We need to let them see our tears. They need to know that we were vulnerable, and at times, down right weak. But we knew that to stand still and not to keep moving forward would represent our demise. So we journeyed on, in spite of our shortcomings. And guess what, many of us made it to the finish lines that we had envisioned for ourselves! We need to tell them, “Stay in the race! Break our records, and make yourselves, and us, proud!”
We need to weep with them. We need to make ourselves so accessible, that they will feel free to come and rest their heads on our shoulders and weep. And we need to feel free to tell them, “It is okay to cry,” and then mingle our tears with theirs; for “The soul would have no rainbows, if the eye had no tears” (Author unknown)!
We need to let them know that our world is a community. A very diverse and rich community! We need to share with them the truest picture of the rainbow: the one God painted when He, “made from one blood, every nation… to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17: 26).
We need to teach them virtues, by example: Tolerance for the faults of others. Respect for the ideas and opinions of others. Appreciation for the differences of others. Love for the unlovely. And we need to teach them how to be peaceful, by cultivating our peace within! We can give them hope, by letting them know that God is still working on all of us!
Perhaps more than anything else we need to share our Abba, with them! We need to tell them “What great things the LORD of Hosts, has done for us!” They need to know that He is the God of all ages; and that He is no respecter of persons! We need to share our testimonies of the miracles He has wrought in our lives. They need to hear that when He forgives, He forgets! We need to help them to long for heaven, by sharing its unimaginable glories with them! We need to love them as we love ourselves, and by example, teach them to love God with all their heart!
Let those of us who have trod this road before share the strength, and power, of God, “with everyone who is to come!”