Geriatrics for the Soul

“As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.” (Jos 14:11 AV)

What an amazing man!  I think this is more than just physical strength.  I think Caleb’s strength is also spiritual and emotional!  The question is, how did he keep himself in peak condition?  What did he do to keep himself healthy?  I’m not so interested in the physical strength as I am the spiritual and emotional.  The body will eventually fail.  No doubt, Caleb probably lost a step or two.  He is 85 when he said this and would life a few more decades.  But even in middle age, one can lose a step or two.  I am sure that he couldn’t keep up with the 30 years old’s.  Probably worked smarter than harder.  You find a way to adjust and accomplish the same.  So, it is the emotional and spiritual that I am interested in.

Caleb would have experienced everything the nation experienced.  When he went into Canaan and conquered the mountain, he had no contemporaries with him.  Joshua and Caleb were the only two their age.  They had buried all their family and friends.  They were it.  When they had a class reunion, it was just the two of them.  So, how did he keep his spirits as the day he followed Moses 40 years ago?  The congregation he would lead would be a completely different one that the one he came of from Egypt with.  He may have outlived his own children.  How did he stay encouraged?  As I age, I find myself losing a step or two both physically and emotionally.  Spiritually, the older I get the better it is!   Praise the LORD.  But having to minister to folks through their toughest times and bury on the average of 1-2 people a year, it takes and emotional toll on one’s heart.  Every time we lay a loved one to rest, it takes just that much more out of our spirit.

I think it might be a matter of the will.  Calen knew what God called him to do.  He willed his body and mind to walk in obedience and God recharged the heart.  We can choose to give up, or we can choose to continue.  We can choose to merely survive, or we can choose to advance.  Whether we feel like it at the moment is inconsequential.  We submit to the will of God and He will strengthen our hearts.  Caleb never lost the vision God gave him 40 years ago.  It was still there and it was still fresh!  That is where we need to be!