All the Way to the End

In the book Halftime, Bob Buford identifies the point in life when a person begins to ask “What’s next?” or “Is this all there is?” He offers a way to look at the second half of life that emphasizes significance rather than success. In Finishing Well, Buford tells the stories of people who have embraced life in new ways and are living to the end of their lives with hope and meaning.

As a pastor, I have the privilege and burden of being with people at the end of their earthly lives. Some people, no matter how long their lives, enter their final season with a clear sense of “job well done.” They are at peace—completing their days with grace and hope and facing their eternal rest with Jesus. Others are frantic about feeling unfinished or that they have lost themselves along the way. They face their closing days with an aching sense of loss, despair, and unworthiness. For them, the last years find them frustrated and helpless.

Since we have no definite time limit to our earthly journeys, God calls us to live as if this is the one day we have to live. We don’t know about our tomorrows. At some point, we realize that our todays are increasingly fewer. In some people, this can trigger a crisis . . . Christians believe that God numbers the days and gives us each one as a gift. We live this day—today—to His honor. He promises to be with us always and to give us meaning in Him no matter where we are on the journey.

In the Bible, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to the exiled nation of Israel. His people had been taken from their homes in Jerusalem to the strange world of Babylon. They were in a holding pattern, waiting for exile to end, waiting to be restored, to return. Jeremiah told them to live the life that was now unfolding before them, to not sit by and wait, mourning what was lost. “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters, find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in numbers there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:5-7).

Sometimes the end of life feels like exile . . . retirement or declining health or lack of connection with loved ones make us feel useless and discouraged. “Why bother with anything? I’ll just wait for heaven.” I believe God would say that, like the Israelites, He will deliver you, but for now, settle in and make the most of your life as it is. Invest in what is close, look to the obvious to make a difference. Know that you can make a difference even now, in a strange land. God will walk with you to the end of your life; He will surprise you with meaning and richness and hope right where you are. And in His time, He will carry you into eternity.