We live in a society which idolizes youth, and as I watch time progress faster and faster, I struggle with the fear of growing too old to keep singing professionally. When fear of aging really starts to take over, when younger singers seemingly find more success, I find inspiration in the Biblical story of Sarah and Abraham (Genesis 17).
You may recall that Abraham had been given a calling–he’d been told that he would be the father of many nations, but decades later Sarah, his wife, was still barren and getting older and older. Did Sarah wonder why God had made a promise that now seemed impossible to fulfill? Like me, did Sarah sometimes wonder if she’d heard Him right? Did she wonder if she’d made up the whole thing and should stop believing in a dream world? And did she come back to the knowledge that this calling was the touchstone of her life on earth and it had to be?
When the first promise was made to Abraham, he was young–as I was, yet Abraham was forced to wait until he was old. When the angel finally, finally, came to tell him the child would be born, Abraham said, “…Shall Sarah, that is 90-years old, bear?” And I ask, “…Shall I, who am over 40-years old, sing with the vision and promise of my youth?” The reminder comes from Genesis 17:3: “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” There isn’t much that fear can say to counter that question.
I can lose the fear when I remember that yes, it hurts sometimes; and yes, I hate it sometimes; and yes, sometimes I wish I could drop the whole thing and be a secretary or sales clerk. But through it all, I know I’m doing what I was put here to do. I am a Singer, and when I’m following that calling from God, all aspects of life seem to flow right. I’ll keep singing as long as He wants me to sing.
