About a year ago I found myself struggling with pain in my knees and hips. Standing up from a chair was difficult, and climbing stairs was so challenging that I had to take two steps per stair. And walking was hard enough that I considered buying a cane. 

I knew these problems are often considered normal for older people. Ads touting braces and joint replacement for seniors are common, and I’d frequently heard friends and relatives talk and even joke about the pains and problems of aging. One friend remarked, “We might as well laugh at what we can’t change.”

Because that comment suggested that God isn’t omnipotent, it made me stop and think. Is time more powerful than the Almighty? Is it possible to “age out” of divine Love’s omnipresent care? 

From my study of Christian Science, the answer was clear: Of course not! God, Spirit, doesn’t deteriorate, so neither can His child, who is in reality God’s spiritual likeness. It’s normal for us to express our divine creator in health, strength, and unlabored mobility.

However, we are so constantly bombarded with suggestions that we’re aging mortals that it’s easy to conclude we’re subject to penalties because of passing years. 

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by the Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, explains how we adopt attitudes and situations as normal through being exposed to them constantly. “Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model?” it asks on page 248. It then continues: “The world is holding it before your gaze continually. The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life-work, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models.” 

With that in mind, I called a Christian Science practitioner for help through prayer. The practitioner urged me to claim my exemption from any infirmity, whatever form it appeared to take. He pointed out that in God’s spiritual kingdom, where we all truly live, old age has no more legitimacy than does sin. God is the only cause. He made us spiritual and perfect in His image. And He governs His creation in perfect harmony.

Though I prayed earnestly for a few days, nothing changed. But one morning as I was reading the Bible Lesson found in the Christian Science Quarterly, a passage from the twenty-third Psalm stood out to me: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (verse 4).

I reread the whole psalm several times and looked it up in various Bible translations. No version mentioned aging. As I thought about what wasn’t in the psalm, it occurred to me that Christ Jesus hadn’t considered age a limitation when he was restoring people to health.

I began to think through each line of this psalm more deeply than I ever had before: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (verses 1–6).

The psalm begins with the Lord, our Shepherd and caretaker. That’s significant, I realized. In our prayers for healing, we need to start with God, and with our true, spiritual identity as God’s children, loved and cared for—not with the problem. I affirmed that I was already with my divine Shepherd, not lost and struggling to find Him.

The psalm describes the honorable, trustworthy character of a shepherd, who is ever devoted to the welfare of the sheep. He tends to their every need, neglecting nothing. The New Living Translation of the Bible includes this wording in verse 3: “He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.”

What about sheep? Do they argue about their shepherd’s power or his genuine concern for them? Do they fear that some predator or hazard will prove too strong for him? Do they worry that the shepherd has stopped loving and caring for one of the flock that has grown old? 

No, sheep know and trust their caretaker, who is always there. Confidence in the shepherd begins with the assurance that there are no exceptions to his care and no conditions beyond his control. 

I stayed close to Psalm 23 and to my divine Shepherd over the next couple of weeks, following the path of divine Truth rather than wandering off into shadowy fears about age and debility. And I soon found myself moving around and keeping up with my farm chores in complete freedom. In the year since then, I’ve had no further problems with knee or hip pain. Now I walk and climb stairs with ease.

As we trustingly follow our divine Shepherd in “the paths of righteousness,” we honor our relation to Him as our creator, protector, and guide. We don’t need to fear any looming threat, including age, because we are always under His care. Our journey may pass through “the valley of the shadow of death,” but we are completely untouched by that experience. 

We can’t age out of God’s care; we can only grow in our understanding of His eternal love for us. And we can find ourselves fulfilled and supported by “goodness and mercy,” not just for a certain number of years, but every day, now and forever. That’s our birthright as part of God’s flock.