A lot of people spend their lives sitting on the sidelines for God because they think they’ve missed their window. They look at their age, their past mistakes, or their gray hair and assume God is looking for someone younger and faster.
Thankfully, Moses didn’t feel that way and more importantly, God didn’t either.
If you think you are “past your prime” for the Lord, you need to look at the math in the book of Exodus.
Exodus 7:7 (KJV), “And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.”
Moses was 80 years old before he even started his real life’s work. His life was divided into three very distinct forty-year stages.
Stage One: Learning the World (0–40)
Moses spent his first forty years being raised in Pharaoh’s house. He had the best education, the highest skill, and a position of power. He was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). He had the knowledge, but he didn’t have the character or God’s timing. He tried to do God’s work his own way by killing an Egyptian, and he ended up a fugitive.
Stage Two: Learning Humility (40–80)
Moses fled to the backside of the desert in Midian. He went from being a prince to being a shepherd, a job Egyptians hated. This was the “silent” season. Forty years of obscurity, silence, and broken plans.
God was removing the “Prince of Egypt” self-trust so He could replace it with something better.
Stage Three: Learning Dependence (80–120)
At eighty, when most people are looking for a rocking chair, God sent a burning bush. Moses was no longer the confident young man he used to be. He told God he was weak in speech and slow in confidence. He was finally in a position where God could use him because he was finally willing to let God do the work.
The last forty years of his life were his most productive. He led a nation, spoke with God face to face, and saw miracles that defined history.
God’s strength is made perfect when we finally admit our weakness.
God often starts a man when the man thinks he is finished. In our culture, we idolize youth, but in God’s eyes, He values the humble. Your age does not stop your calling; only your pride or your refusal to move can do that.
If you are still breathing, God isn’t done with you. The first eighty years might have just been the warm-up for what He wants to do through you today.
