That Old Woman

In church this past weekend, we sat a couple rows behind a rickety old woman. I remember thinking how frail she looked, and I was a little sad for her, thinking that she may not have much time left here on earth. But as I watched her praising my God, singing of His faithfulness to her, and struggling to raise her hand in worship up past her waist, my feelings changed. Instead of feeling sorry for her I began to admire her, and she became an inspiration to me. I began to see her as a woman who had been in His service (probably) many years more than I have, and although I have no way of knowing, I considered that her and God may have been through much deeper things than I can even imagine in my comparatively few years of knowing Him.

In my own praise, I started giving thanks to God for this old lady who has fought the good fight, and through it all, kept the faith. I don't even know her, but she became a gift from God to me. Instead of being near the end of her time on earth, I now saw her as near the end of her race- with her reward almost in sight. I almost envied her. What a blessing she turned out to be!