1 QUOTE

“In these middle decades of life we are prone to stagnation and depression, the wonders of life reduce to banalities and the juices of life dry up.”

- Eugene Peterson

1 NOTE

I remember calling my bestie Isaac Flores before a hair cut. He said, “Alright, hit me back in three minutes.” During my haircut, the lady began commenting on my greying hair, “You have too much gray hair. You need to dye your hair.” I told her that in the Bible gray is good. She persisted and tried to upsell me to color my hair. I told her that in the Bible gray hair symbolizes hard-earned wisdom, righteousness and guidance. I even shared Proverbs 16:3, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” She fired back, “You have too much gray and too much Bible!”

Yesterday I turned 55 years old. I celebrated by co-teaching with Becky Proverbs 6:1-19 to our ‘Win Your 20s’ mentoring group. Most people in LA would scratch their heads. But it was perfect. We live in Los Angeles, the hype capital of the world where everyone is addicted to youth. If I told a stranger I just turned 55, they would be tempted to say, “I am sorry.” But at 55 years old, my Christian leadership prime is just beginning.

Four years ago, God gave Becky and me a later-in-life faith test. We passed the test by planting our second church. Faith challenges are the solution to avoid the plateau pit, a concept Dr. J. Robert Clinton identified in his timeline research. The plateau pattern describes when a leader shrinks back in personal and ministry expansion. Often without realizing it, leaders settle into a comfortable range of ministry skills that are enough to ‘get by.’ As they move from middle to prime ministry, they lose their fire and begin to coast. The call to lose your life discipleship has morphed into a religious career.

Do you know how old Daniel was when he was thrown into the den of lions? Three Babylon kings are named in Daniel. When Nebuchadnezzar trafficked him to Babylon, he was 15 years old (Daniel 2:1). Belshazzar was king just long enough to see the bloody writing on the wall (Daniel 5:5). Darius banned prayer to Yahweh in 539 B.C. So when Daniel opened up his drapes singing, ‘Picture me praying,’ Daniel was 81 years old. Yes, Daniel was thrown into the pit of lions. Imagine his lower body injuries being thrown 12 feet down into the lions at 81 years old. But the faith test helped him avoid the plateau pit. Which is the more dangerous pit?

1 QUESTION

If you are like me, for some reason we assume our greatest test is behind us. But what if our biggest faith test lies ahead? How are you preparing today for how God will test you in the future?

Until Next Tuesday,

John