Week Two - Wrinkles

Beside the Well

            While reading through my Bible I came to Job 16:8,  “Thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me…” and I laughed right out loud.

            Wrinkles.  Every time those of us over fifty look into the mirror we are shocked to discover another one, or two, or three.  They are the blight of age and the source of huge industry. I look down now and see the hands of my grandmother typing.  It brings precious memories, but I certainly don’t know how they got there, and no amount of potions or concoctions is going to change them.

            Poor old Job, he was prematurely aging.  As if his trials weren’t enough, his friends, by their negative and condemning counsel, had caused him to wrinkle, to shrivel.  He even calls them miserable comforters in verse one.

            It got me wondering what else, besides negative, non-supportive counsel, might cause me to prematurely wrinkle?

            Overtiredness?  Am I pushing and pushing for things that hold no eternal value?  Am I guilty of keeping a diary full to the brim and rarely refusing another appointment, all the while dragging through each day feeling beat up and exhausted?

            Poor Diet?  Am I cramming my face with junk food and then feeling guilty because my clothes don’t fit? Am I drinking more soda than water and then blaming my weight on age?  Am I skipping meals and then wondering why I am irritable and have dark circles under my eyes?  Are my three veg chocolate, chocolate and chocolate?

            Unforgiveness?  Am I nursing and rehearsing old grudges and hurts allowing bitterness and anger to be my daily diet causing me to feel heavy-hearted, angry and alone?

            Stress?  Do I have huge debt?  Do I feel overwhelmed by the demands of life?  Am I creating my own stress by thinking something is wrong if I don’t have something to fret and worry about? Do I keep trying to seize control and freaking out when things don’t go my way?  Do I wonder how others seem to have such peace and rest while I can barely hold it all together?

            Fear?  What will be tomorrow?  What if I am not able to hold my job?  What if my health fails?  What if I am not smart enough to actually make it through life?  Are the “what-if’s” plaguing me while my eyes dart at every angle of life expecting the bogie-man to jump out and get me?

            Negative people and poor life choices will have a definite affect on my appearance.  They will wear me down; cause me to wrinkle.  No amount of makeup will be able to hide the crevices.

            So, what am I going to do?  My grandmother told me not to get old, but I don’t think that is feasible.  Age is going to happen. 

            Surely, it is better for me to grow past the mistakes of youth and bring my life inline with godly principles.  I need to get off the merry-go-round I have created, step back, and learn to create a life free from the unnecessary burdens of stress and fear.  I need to choose my friends and influences wisely and take responsibility for my choices; else my wrinkles will be a witness against me.