First half, second half: when will my life please God the most?
By Dean Collins
A few weeks ago I listened to two different podcasts interviewing Arthur C. Brooks, the Harvard professor and author of From Strength to Strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life. After several friends had recommended I read the book, a few questions came to mind:
• When does the second half of life begin?
• Are my friends hinting I need to move on to something else?
• What about finding success, happiness, and deep purpose in the first half of life?
The truth is, no one really knows when you are in the second half of your life. Tragedies happen, cancer and heart disease take the lives of many long before their life expectancies. According to Dr. Brooks, the decline of peak performance may well begin somewhere between ages 35-50, so the second half of life comes much earlier than we imagine.
Ancient king
The book of 2 Chronicles made a statement that intrigues me about an ancient king who died in what we consider the first half of life.
Chronicles, as you know, gives us another view of the history of Israel and its relationship with God. These books, originally just one scroll, were likely written after the Babylonian exile and the temple had been restored. Ultimately the books are prophetic and lead to the coming of a future king, Jesus, who would renew and restore all things.
As I read chapter 21 of 2 Chronicles, verse 20 is the one that jumped out at me. When talking about King Jehoram the chronicler says this: “He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.”
No regret
Notice that middle sentence. “And he departed with no one’s regret.” Ouch! Imagine when you successfully move from the first to the second half of your career. Or maybe when you move on to retirement. We know all of us are, in fact, replaceable. Other people can lead or manage whatever you are leading and managing. And while we will likely not be remembered long except hopefully by another generation of family members, I suspect none of us wants to leave with everyone saying, “We sure aren’t going to miss him!” We want to leave with no regrets because we did our best.
But according to this passage, the people of Jerusalem were happy to see him go. And he was not buried in the most honorable places of the good kings.
Finding success, happiness, and deep purpose in our current or next season is tied to understanding the transformational work of the gospel in our lives. We are called to bear the image of God and to share the gospel with others so God’s handiwork becomes increasingly visible as we do his kingdom work.
When we allow God to direct our paths, he will lead us to work that has deep purpose and brings great satisfaction, not only to our soul but also for transformation in the lives of others. And if that has happened when we transition to eternity, we can be sure others will celebrate what God has accomplished in us and through us.
Our goal is not to be indispensable but rather to be transformational in the lives of others because we point them to Jesus and then step aside to see the wonderful work God accomplishes in them and through them.
Your time with God’s Word
2 Chronicles 21:20 ESV
Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash
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