Where Are All The Godly Men? - Every Man's Journey

"Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come." Psalm 71: 17,18

Every man is on a journey. Like any journey, we are at a particular point in that journey at different stages in our life. And, just like any journey, every man has to determine what is his destination point, otherwise, we wonder through an aimless and wasted life. The destination point we choose will determine to a great extent what our journey will look like along the way. There will be times we question our destination, even question who we are, and what we are all about. The key to reaching our destination and a fruitful life, is to stay focused as we continue our journey through the different stages of our life.

In our twenties, we begin our adult journey with our focus mainly on building our careers and our families. We are full of energy, the future before us looks exciting, and we are ready to seek and gain the whole world. Our hope and confidence grows as we establish who we are and what we are all about. It is a time to build, build, and build. For some, with the business of building our work and family, our focus can get a little hazy during this period. It is a time of reality check on what is our true destination. Hopefully, we have made the decision as to who Jesus is and who we are, and these two decisions keep us focused on being a man of God. 

Our thirties is a time of reaping some rewards from the building we did in our twenties. Success begins to blossom and recognition for our efforts comes our way as we continue to build in our journey to reach our destination. Our thirties can be a time of great fulfillment, but they can also be a time of weariness. The constant demands on hustling our children to continuous activities and the pressing demands of work can leave us exhausted at the end of a week. Frustrated, tired, and sometimes lonely, we can find ourselves vulnerable to temptations and distractions in the latter thirties. If we are not careful, the tiresome efforts of tending to our work and family can bring us to question who we are and what we want out of life. All the effort we have placed in building our careers and families, can now become a noose around our neck. We are tired men. Without those commitments we made in the beginning of our journey, we can find ourselves tarring down all we have built. It is a critical time of decision; a decision to surrender all we have stood for, or, to re-surrender to our goal of a Godly man.

Now comes the forties. In the early part of this stage, we may still be dealing with the unpleasantness of the latter thirties. We may still be looking back over our life and questioning if we will ever reach those dreams we had in our twenties. The forties can also be a time of refreshment and renewal.  We begin to build on what we have and the renewal to our goal begins to move us forward. The kids are beginning to grow up and leave home. For the first time in a long while, we as husbands and wives, begin to have time just for one another. We awake one morning and the memory of why we married the love of our twenties fills us with new emotions. She is not only our new love, but she now becomes our true best friend. We have made it through raising children, building a good career, and suffering through our marriage without killing one another. Jesus was the answer. It was his presence in our life all along that gave us all we have and are. A fresh breeze has brought our journey a new life, and we are looking forward to the second half.