When I'm Older and I'm Wiser

I was driving and singing along 

to Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.”

I have been through enough tough times

to understand the line that says,

“So wake me up when it's all over.”

It’s not my philosophy, but I get it.

I was struck by the next line though:
“When I'm wiser and I'm older.”

Oh Lord, can these please go together!

“When I’m older” is inevitable.

“When I’m wiser” not so much.

And what do we really have if we don’t

take all that we have been through and

gain from it a heart of wisdom?

It's called wasted time, wasted pain,

wasted tears, wasted years.

I’m not big on waste.

The older we get, the more we can see

the debris laying around from living life.

Sometimes relationships don’t work out.

Sometimes dreams die.

Sometimes failure seems final.

We don’t always know how to move forward.

But we know there is no other option.

So we boil things down to what we know:

He never leaves us. Ever. (Heb 13:5)

He is helping us grow to be more like Him. (Eph 4:15)

He is always about love. Always. (Phil 1:9)

So as hard things come as hard things do,

I have this wealth of experience to draw from.

In this thing, You stand with me.

In this thing, You cause me to grow.

In this thing, You help me love.

So, older and wiser go together by grace

and our willingness to move forward with Him.

I understand those wake-me-up lyrics; 

I have felt that way myself.

But my prayer today is that through it all,

I am awake and fully present for every moment

that I am allowed the privilege of breathing.

At any given point in our stories,

we have the power to say,

“This will end with me knowing how

to love just a little bit more.”

When I’m older AND I’m wiser…