Age will not disqualify the faithful
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
(Genesis 12:1-4)
'Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.'
(Genesis 21:1-5)
“ Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’
“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”
(Joshua 14:6-14)
Notice that Abraham was 75 years old when he was called by God. He was not a young man.
When Caleb was sent as a spy to the Promised Land, he was 40. Unfortunately, he could not enter the Promised Land when he was 40. However, when he was 85 years, he claimed his inheritance: ‘ an entire hill country’.
It is interesting to see that the above passages mention the ages of Abraham and Caleb. Both men were not young according to society standards. It was important to include details on their age in order to convince people that God is not limited by time and that those who are faithful have the right to see their God given dreams come to realisation, regardless of age.
Caleb had to experience a delay in his life because of the disobedience of others. Many have seen their dreams being delayed because of the action of others. In spite of such injustice, Caleb still believed the promise that God made.
If you have been faithful, your age should not be a criteria disqualifying you from stepping into your God-given dream.
Those who have been faithful to God have the right to live their God given dreams, regardless of age.