“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.” ISAIAH 46:4 NIV 

The cashier didn’t mean to depress her. It’s just that in applying a senior citizen discount without even asking, the middle-aged woman realized that her aging showed. At home, she stopped by the bathroom mirror for a closer look. Yep, the gray hairs she had colored a few weeks ago had rebelliously burst through again at the roots. A once supple and smooth face now sported age spots and freckles amid an ever-growing mountain range of wrinkles under her eyes and on her forehead. She sighed and allowed her thoughts to drift back and forth: to the past, remembering how her body used to look…and to the future, wondering what would become of her in the end. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised,” she quoted Proverbs 31:30 (NIV) out loud to quell her concerns. Still, it was hard to let go of the idols of youth. What will happen when I’m really old? she wondered. 

Then she heard God’s Spirit whisper another reminder of His faithfulness: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you” (Isaiah 46:4 N I V). She didn’t know what the future would hold, but she was grateful to know who was holding her. 

Nothing in this world compares to the faithfulness of our God. He knew us before He laid the foundations of the world. He leads us through the ages and phases of our lives and never once leaves our side. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever—the firmest of foundations on which we can build our lives. 

Our culture clamors to cling to youth with all the help money can buy—an obsession born of the fear that we will outgrow our purpose and worth. But God’s unfailing love and everlasting care prove our infinite worth, no matter how old we are or how much our skin sags. In Jesus, we are chosen and cherished from life’s first cry to our final breath. Great is His faithfulness! 

Jesus, You are the Great I Am, and You always will be. You alone determine my worth, not the color of my hair or the condition of my physical body. Thank You for Your promise to stay with me, even to the end of the age. In Jesus’s name. 

This is an excerpt from True Sweetness: Growing in the Fruits of the Spirit – a devotional now available on DaySpring.com. Shop all books, journals, and devotions from DaySpring here.