“Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them.” (Matthew 21:2–3, NIV)
In Jesus’ time, a donkey was a valuable possession for the ordinary middle-class family. On the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus instructed His disciples to head into the city, untie a colt from its post outside a certain house, and then bring it to Jesus for His use. The only explanation that the disciples were to give to the owner was that “the Lord has need of them.”
Many folks, much like the untied donkey in Matthew’s gospel, feel as though they have come to the end of the road. Waiting. Never really discovering what for. I have found it even more common for those of us in our fifties, sixties, and seventies to play the conversations over and over asking ourselves, What’s next? What now? As ones who have absorbed life’s blows, endured the wounds of failure, enjoyed our accomplishments, and relished in our successes, we find that we still wonder. We converse with friends, we seek counsel, we pray, and we search for that which matters. We long to know about our significance. If this is you, I have good news! The human spirit will always cry out for more—God created us this way. And because of this, He calls out to us and draws us to Himself. He is coming after us!
We are certainly not donkeys, but I’d like to submit that our relationship to this story may be this: many of us are tied up. And like the untied donkey in the story in the gospel of Matthew, one of the hardest things to come to terms with when we face transition is our usefulness.
Allow me to pose these questions, Are there ropes holding you back, keeping you from knowing which direction to take? Are there ropes that keep you stuck? Have you accepted the lie, agreed with the argument, that life is over and there is nothing left? Do you hear the whisper, “I’m too old, too much time has been lost”? Do you wonder where to start? Do thoughts of starting over overwhelm you?
Jesus knows this, beloved one, and as the Anointed One in your life, He comes to untie the ropes that are holding you back, to break every yoke, and to declare to you that your life is not over. There is still much to be done. The Lord has need of you! He is in the business of untying donkeys—of breaking people free from that which holds them back.
You were not created to stay tied up on the post of the city gate. If you feel ordinary and insignificant, I submit to you that He uses ordinary people, strengthening them in the significance of relationship with Him—all for the advancement of His kingdom.
My friend, the Master is waiting for you, and the time to flourish has just begun. Don’t you see you have been untied from interruptions, work duties, deadlines, and obligations?
Or are you tired? Run down? To you I say,
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding. (Isaiah 40:28, NLT)
You no longer must bear the burden; the time has come to meet the burden-bearer Himself!
Father God who made us has planned a wonderful future beyond the certainty of growing old and ending our days on earth doing nothing. His purposeful, significant plan is just ahead—eternity with Him. But for it to be accomplished, He has need of you!
He is looking for men and women who will stand in the gap as intercessory catalysts, people who proclaim His promise, whose lives are patterns to be followed, who pave the way for younger generations, whose prayers invoke His presence, and cry out for His return. He is calling those of us who are in our fifties, sixties, and seventies, proclaiming there is yet much to be done, “I, The Lord, have need of you! Will you partner with me?”
You don’t have to spend your latter years in the shadows of yesterday’s accomplishments—there are many new and glorious ones ahead. Indeed, the Lord has need of you!
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing. (Psalm 92:14)“Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.” (Isaiah 46:4)
Yes, the Lord has need of you for there is yet another triumphal entry He has planned—one that will not happen until “the spirit and the bride say come.”
May your heart be stirred like the man Simeon in Luke 2:25–35,and may you hear and answer the call to partner with Him in your latter years. Join a generation that is crying out for the glorious return of Christ!
