Today I accompanied a friend of mine to visit his father at a nursing home. His father is 93 and, it seemed to me, still rather agile of mind. In the last year he has lost a great deal: his wife of some 71 years, his independence, his ability to get around on his own, and, recently, his left leg. One might imagine that such a man would be angry or bitter, but he was neither

From his wheelchair he grasped my hand with some energy and told me that God had a plan for him.

"Every day the Lord reminds me that my life is in His hands and that I shouldn't worry about it. When He's ready to call me home, He'll call me home. Until then, there are things He wants me to do," he said. "He has given me a ministry to hundreds of people here!" He spoke was force and sincerity of all that God had given to him.

I was astonished. I confess that when I think of people in nursing homes, I don't conjure images of people leading lives of active ministry ... or anything else. I think of people waiting to cross the river, so to speak. And yet here was a man who, even after so much suffering, was offering praise to his God and who understood that there is no such thing as a retired Christian.

Should I live to be 93, this man will be a model for me! What a testimony. It is a strong reminder to me that God has a purpose for us in every season of life.