“Brother Ben, why in the world has the Lord let me live this long?” That was the question I got almost every time I visited one of the sweet shut-ins of the church I pastored in Tennessee. Ms Willette was in her late 80s and early 90s while I served that church and had outlived her husband and all her friends. She struggled to get around, and while she was still in fairly good health, all things considered, her life was difficult. She, like Apostle Paul, understood well that it was far better in God’s timing to die and go on to be with the Lord, but it wasn’t God’s timing yet.

To answer her question, I often pointed her to Philippians 1:24–26, “yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. And convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your reason for boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my coming to you again.”

The truth of the matter is that Ms Willette continued to live not for her sake, but for the sake of those around her. She was serving a purpose as a blessing to those in her life, whether she realized it or not. God had a purpose for her life, and that’s why He let her live for so long.

And that truth is true for every single one of us as well, no matter our age. Why are you still living? Because God has a purpose for your life. Yes, if you are a Christian, it would be better for you if you died and went on to be with the Lord, but it’s better for those around you and for God’s agenda that you remain in the land of the living. So, may you live for whatever that purpose is to your fullest!

By the way, about a year after I moved on from that church, Ms Willette finally had her prayer answered on February 24, 2015, when she died at the age of 93 and went on to that better home in Heaven. But until then, she lived for the purpose of God, and may you do the same!

Change begins in you!