The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15, ESV
In the beginning, when God created Adam, he gave him the Garden of Eden to work and tend. God created us to work. It is through work that we find purpose, fulfillment, and meaning. He gives us gifts, talents, and abilities to serve.
There are some interesting statistics about those who retire early, tend to die sooner. I don’t know how true those statistics are, but I see more than a few people struggle with retirement from my perspective. You need something to do. God did not create you to be sedentary. The calling is going to be different for every person based upon their gifts, interests, and passions.
One of my mentors, Dr. Barry Kolb, always used to say that you don’t retire, you just transition. He “retired” some ten years ago, but just recently launched a new church called resTore in Hollister, MO. True to his words, he didn’t retire, he just transitioned.
I have some other friends, Gary and Sue Kessler. Gary is a retired truck driver. Sue worked at a children’s museum that down-sized at the beginning of Covid. But God had been preparing them for a long time to serve as volunteer missionaries to Belize. I recently interview them about their experience over the last six months and how God used them in “retirement.”
My dad is a retired truck driver too. My mom is a retired church secretary. But their early years of retirement were spent training dogs for the Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dog Ministry. These dogs have brought compassion and hope to thousands of people facing grief and tragedy.
So many people spend their lives chasing after retirement to cease from their work. But it just may be that God has spent a lifetime preparing you for a new work that may ultimately be your greatest work. If you are living, breathing, and your heart is beating, God has you here for a purpose. You have something do do.
Moses spent forty years in Egypt. He spent another forty years in exile in Midian. At eighty years old, God called him through the burning bush to free God’s people from slavery in Egypt. He could have spent a cushy retirement in Midian. But God had great things in store for Moses.
Rest is good. We need rest. Many people have the perspective that you work so that you can rest. But God gives us rest, so that we can work from that rest to serve his purposes.
Thank you Phil from someone who is struggling with retiring from the corporate world. But not retiring from life!
Nancy K