Don't be afraid to grow old; God goes with you!

别怕变老，有上帝同行！

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:4

我必怀抱，也必拯救。-以赛亚书46章4节

“How are you today, Mama?” I asked casually. My 84-year-old friend, pointing to aches and pains in her joints, whispered, "Old age is tough!" Then she added earnestly, "But God has been good to me."

我遇见那84岁的老朋友，随口就问她说：「婆婆，妳今天好吗？」她指着关节的疼痛处，低声说：「当老人真难啊！」接着她又认真加上一句：「但是上帝一直对我很好。」

“Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life,” says Billy Graham in his bookNearing Home. "I am an old man now, and believe me, it's not easy." However, Graham notes, "While the Bible doesn't gloss over the problems we face as we grow older, neither does it paint old age as a time to be despised or a burden to be endured with gritted teeth.” He then mentions some of the questions he has been forced to deal with as he has aged, such as, “How can we not only learn to cope with the fears and struggles and growing limitations we face but also actually grow stronger inwardly in the midst of these difficulties?"

「逐渐变老是我人生中最感到意外的事。」葛理翰在《接近天家》一书中说，「我现在老了，相信我，这不是一件容易的事。」然而葛理翰又提到，「圣经并没有粉饰我们年纪渐长时所会面临的难题；但也没有将老年时期描绘成一个受人鄙视、造成负担，或必须咬紧牙关强忍的阶段。」他还谈到一些自己逐渐变老后不得不面对的问题，例如：「在学习处理自己所面临的恐惧、挣扎和愈来愈多的限制时，如何同时使内心变得更坚强，即使困难依然存在。」

In Isaiah 46 we have God's assurance: "Even to your old age and gray hairs . . . I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you" (v. 4).

在以赛亚书46章中，上帝向我们保证：「直到你们年老……发白，我仍怀搋。我已造作，也必保抱；我必怀抱，也必拯救。」 （4节）

We don’t know how many years we will live on this earth or what we might face as we age. But one thing is certain: God will care for us throughout our life.

我们不知道自己在地上的年岁有多长，也不知道自己年老时可能面临什么难题，然而有一件事是确定的：上帝必看顾我们，终其一生。

Lord, please teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (See Psalm 90:12)

主，求祢指教我们怎样数算自己的日子，
好叫我们得着智慧的心。（诗篇90篇12节）

??Isaiah? ?46:4-13? ?NIV??

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. “With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles. “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.”

http://bible.com/111/isa.46.4-13.niv