Retirement Rocks: A 14-Day Reading Plan for All That Free TimeBeispiel

Karen looked through the photos on her phone, smiling as she came across the ones from her retirement party. How happy she’d looked that day! What joy and excitement she’d experienced!

Now, though? These pictures just caused a weird ache in her heart. In fact, she could hardly stand to look at them because they brought back so many memories. Did her friends at work even remember her anymore? Would they recognize the person she had become?

Truth be told, Karen struggled to know who she was outside of the workplace. After forty years in the insurance business, settling into a daily “I’m not working there anymore” routine hadn’t come naturally. Most of her adult life she’d been known as Karen “Our Top Salesperson.” Now she was just . . . Karen. And it stunk.

Maybe you know what that's like. You were at the top of your game at your company. Everyone respected you. Revered you, even. It felt good to be admired. People aspired to be like you. Now you’re just . . . you. And now you don’t know what that’s supposed to look like or how it’s supposed to feel.

Take a good look at today’s verse. The life you live now—right now, in this very post-retirement moment—is lived by faith. That means you don’t have to fully understand it all. You just have to recognize that your identity is—and always was—in Jesus, not yourself. What a relief, to know you don’t have to work for it!

I’m so grateful my identity is in You, Lord! You’re not asking me to jump through hoops or perform at a certain level. You love me just as I am! Amen.