O God, Our Help in Ages Past

I feel ambivalent about my birthday this year in a lot of ways. One the one hand, I like parties, cake, and I admit, presents. On the other hand, I am getting older. I have to maturely accept that my birthday will not be as cool for me as it was when I was a kid. It's nice to have a reason to celebrate, but I kind of want to deny I'm getting older. So I kind of want it to be a big deal, and I kind of feel like it shouldn't be. I think we are going out to dinner with some friends tonight, and my husband is getting me a cake.

I think I'm seeing a pattern now over the years that things even out; one realizes that a lot of stuff that seemed important in the teen years, or even in college, really weren't. You knew they weren't then, too, but it just really seemed like it. Now I feel old and wise enough to be the hoary advisor who tells teenage girls what's up and how to stay steady.

I started to thank the Lord this morning for what He's done this past year. There has been so much grace when I have failed. Strength when I was weak. Patience when I was stubborn. Delight when I sought it. I thanked Him for a wonderful church, a beautiful daughter, a caring husband. And as I started to think of life carrying on for another ten years, I thought of this hymn.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast
And our eternal home.

I looked up the seventeenth-century lyrics and it turns out they suited my musings quite well. You see, Isaac Watts writes about the passage of time, and how it takes all of our lives, and at the same time, how God is in control of all of that time, and of all of our lives. It talks about creation and eternity. The new, and the continuous. That's the kind of contrast life holds for me right now.

I've been studying 2 Peter, which talks about our hope in Christ's second coming. You know, I am not sure I think enough about what happens after this life, or how I'd really like it to end. The saints to whom Peter was writing seemed concerned that those who died before Christ's return wouldn't get to see the event. He assured them that they would rise first, and then the living would meet them in the air. How thougthful, really, of the living, and of Peter to allay their concerns.

Such framing events provide a narrative to life, and I know I need a story to live in. Christ will return one day. I don't think much about it, but I believe it. And looking back on life, I see how He has been my help, and I can trust Him to be my home now in the future.

That kind of truth is better than a birthday party. Gives me steady hope. But give me a birthday party, too, and if it's not too much trouble, a short-lived, cake-induced sugar rush. Oh, and that other song I love to hear - "Happy Birthday to You."

"O God, Our Help in Ages Past," Lyrics by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft. More lyrics can be read, and the tune heard, at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/g/ogohiap.htm