From Generation to Generation: Living in the Fly Away Zone
Letting Go of our Need to Fix and/or Solve everything
Dear Friends,
I heard from someone about yesterday’s column. This is the kind of impact the Bible’s wisdom can have. He wrote:
One of your best, my friend, one of your best. Maybe because it hit home, about a year ago, I started the practice of getting up at 5 a.m. That was a real sacrifice because I have always been a late sleeper. But I came to enjoy the time alone with God, sitting, looking out the window—first at snow, then at springtime, and then at fall. I added so many hours to my life, and I am so glad I did. Thanks for the reminder that that is important.
This is the hope I have for the series—that it is helping people (YOU) consider thoughtfully and prayerfully what your life looks like, especially if you are in the Fly Away Zone.
The Fly Away Zone is that period in your life—our lives—when we are close to the end of our days. We may not see the end—few can. But we are allowed to see where we could see it. And get ready for the life that awaits.
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Today’s column is free because I want to get the word out. But I really do appreciate the support you can offer as a paid subscriber. $60/year or $10/month. Easy peasy—and it goes so far!
“From everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
Moses does something important before he tells us how short life is. He reminds us how long God is.
“From everlasting to everlasting.”
Before your first day, God was.
After your last day, God will be.
Think about that for a moment. It is wisdom that should be required reading for everyone in the Fly Away Zone. It would fit on a bumper sticker. And it is as true as anything.
One of the quiet burdens of our life is the feeling that everything depends on us. We carry responsibilities, relationships, decisions, and unfinished work as if the weight of the world rests on our shoulders. And in the Fly Away Zone, that pressure can increase. Since we have less time, everything can feel more urgent, more final.
But Moses places your brief life inside God’s endless life.
And the effect is immediate. And sobering. And hopeful. He is making it plain and clear to us all:
You are not the beginning of the story.
You are not the end of the story.
You are part of something that began before you and will continue after you.
That does not make your life insignificant. On the contrary, it makes it right-sized. Why? Because it means you are free to be faithful without needing to be everything. You can do what is yours to do and trust God with what you cannot do.
The things you cannot finish in this life, God will carry forward.
The things you cannot fix in this life, God will judge rightly.
The people you cannot change in this life, God continues to pursue.
This is where peace enters—a peace that passes understanding, according to St. Paul.
Not Everything Ends Well
Not because everything is resolved, but because everything is held in God’s hands.
I wrote a book a few years ago on the last written words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4.1 What made those verses interesting to me was that Paul was on death row in a Roman prison. He would lose his head in only a matter of weeks. He was in the Fly Away Zone, to be sure.
In his last words, Paul admits that some relationships remained strained. Some leaders abandoned the mission. Some things didn’t work out. A former brother in Christ betrayed him. And if you read carefully, Paul doesn’t resent people. He doesn’t brood over a failed friendship. He doesn’t obsess over their lack of loyalty—that they burned him.
Paul, fully in the Fly Away Zone, simply turns his former friends over to God's will.
He almost gives them a blessing! He places them in the hands of God, from everlasting to everlasting.
Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:14-18)
This was not a ‘no hard feelings’ moment. It was an admission that ultimately God is good, and He’s in control.
We cannot do everything.
We cannot fix everyone.
We can only, in the end, turn people over to God. Give to God what we can no longer carry—or should no longer carry.
“Give it to God and go to sleep…”
When the church Fran and I planted was young, we had an older couple who seemed to have it together. They had a deep and abiding faith in God. I was envious, a little. But their lives were constantly in turmoil. Troubled children. Shaky employment. Health nuisances that always seemed to plague them.
One evening, Fran and I went to dinner with them. They were unusually candid with us about their hardships. We were young and inexperienced; they were older and had been under pressure for many years.
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I blurted out a little too loudly, “Jerry, how do you sleep at night?” His wife answered for him. She said, “When I sense his fidgeting, I just poke him in the side—in a loving way—and say, ‘Jerry, just give it to God and go to sleep.’”
He laughed. We all laughed. But that was all it took, it seemed. One person reminding the other to place our limited life in the limitless life and love of God.
From Generation to Generation is a long time. Our lives are short. Friends, place your life—your friends, people, projects, worries, concerns, health, sorrows and bitterness in the hands of God. Give it up. Give it over. Be done with it.
What to do?
Before this day ends, take one concern that feels larger than you can carry. Give it a name. Then, in a simple act of trust, place it before God and leave it there for a time.
You can return to it. You can still carry it. But you do not have to be ultimate in it.
From everlasting to everlasting, he is God. And you are not.
Let that lighten your step as you walk through your numbered days.
To Reflect
What burden am I carrying right now as though everything depends on me? What would it mean to consciously place it into God’s hands?
Where in my life do I need to remember that I am not ultimate — that God was at work before me and will remain faithful after me?
What helps me “give it to God and go to sleep”? What practices, prayers, or reminders restore my trust when anxiety begins to rise?
Grace and peace,
David Roseberry ☩
The Anglican
The Last Will and Testament of the Apostle Paul by David Roseberry https://a.co/d/6hbtfYa
I provided hospice care for both my dying parents. It was deeply painful. It was also a gift. I have no illusions about what it means to die. Now, I’m entering the Fly Away zone as well. Each year my body finds new ways to express my mortality. Your series is giving voice to the wisdom we need for the journey’s end. Especially in a world of Instagram illusions, we need truth and not lies. We need to see clearly that our days are numbered, and God’s love protects us even in our darkest days. Thank you.
So timely! Thank you David!