32. Retirement That Matters: Counting the Cost God’s Way

What does it really cost to step into a retirement that honors God?

In this episode of Courageous Retirement, host Vona Johnson invites you to look beyond bank accounts and bucket lists to discover what truly matters when leaving the working world behind.

Drawing from the story of Zacchaeus, Vona shows how even the most unlikely people can find acceptance, transformation, and purpose in Jesus. She opens up about her own shift from chasing worldly success to pursuing the deeper joy that comes from walking in God’s calling.

You’ll come away challenged to build your retirement on the unshakable foundation of Christ—and inspired to live with eternal purpose, no matter your age or stage.

Plus, hear about a free virtual event on August 27, 2025, to help you prepare for a retirement that’s more than the money.

00:00 Introduction: Contemplating Retirement
01:05 Counting the Cost: Biblical Foundations
02:32 Lessons from Zacchaeus: Embracing Change
04:43 Facing Modern Challenges: Faith in Action
05:53 Invitation: More Than the Money
06:46 Personal Story: The Success Shift
10:00 Conclusion: Finding True Joy

Quotes:
 Regardless of where He might be leading you in this season, I encourage you to count the cost before you embark on this beautiful season of life.

 Jesus doesn't want us to just hear about salvation and the life that we can have with him. He wants us to live out that life. He wants us to live out our biblical purpose like Zacchaeus. God wants us to have a change of heart and a change of behavior.

Scripture References:
Counting the Cost Luke 14:28-30
Story of Zacchaeus Luke 19
Building on a Solid Foundation Luke 6:46
Warning to the Rich James 5:1-3

Reach out to me or check back for information on how to register for the More than the Money Event.

I'd love to hear from you! Send me a text message!

Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!

To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!

Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at vonajohnson.com!

Schedule a free 15 minute Your Path to More call with Vona.

Join ClubMore @ clubmore.live

Episode Transcript

Vona Johnson (00:00):
What more is God calling you to as you

(00:02):
contemplate your retirementyears?
Is he asking you to linger atyour work a little bit longer so
you can finish well and leave alasting legacy there?
Is he nudging you towardssomething new and completely
different than you've ever done,or maybe he's signaling you to
finally slow down and enjoy yourfamily and the life that you

(00:22):
have built over time.
Regardless of where he might beleading you in this season, I
encourage you to count the costbefore you embark on this
beautiful season of life.
We're going to explore what thatlooks like in today's episode.
Be sure to stick around to theend where I share a story and an
excerpt from my book about whatcan happen if we don't count the

(00:44):
cost before we embark on ouradventure.

Speaker (00:47):
Do you fear?
What lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author, and coachVona Johnson.
Let's get started.
When Jesus talks about countingthe cost in Luke 6:46, he's

(01:09):
talking about that situationwhere one person built the house
on the rock and another builtthe house on the sand.
And when the storm came crashingin, we know what happened to the
house on the sand, well, ourlives can be like that too.
If we don't build our lives onthe rock of Jesus Christ, the
foundation of biblical truth,when the storms of life hit, our

(01:30):
whole lives can crumble aroundus.
In my previous life as a housingfinance professional, I quickly
learned that any builder thatdidn't do due diligence when
they were building an apartmentcomplex, would risk the
financial stability of thatbuilding going forward.
And for years if they didn't putquality construction in and if
they didn't count and figure outwhat it was gonna cost to manage

(01:53):
and operate that property overtime and get quality products at
a good price, as well ascharging the right rents There
were gonna have problems downthe road.
The property needed to bemanaged well and any lack of
quality or lack of care for theproperty, quickly reflected in
the lack of care that the peoplewho live there would have.

(02:15):
Soon the property would be insuch disrepair that it was
almost impossible to turn itaround.
Our lives can seem to be thatway too.
We can head down a wrong path.
And pretty soon we've gotten sofar down that path that it feels
that our lives can never beredeemed.
One biblical character that Ithink of when I think of
counting the cost is Zacchaeus.

(02:37):
Now you're probably gonnaremember Zacchaeus, as that we,
little man who desperatelywanted to see Jesus, and he was
so desperate to see Jesus.
That he climbed up into a treebecause he couldn't see over the
crowd.
You may also remember that Jesustold him to come down because he
was gonna go to his house thatday.
I know you got the song stuck inyour mind now, don't you?

(02:58):
What you may not have realized,or I didn't anyway as a child,
was that it was shocking forthat crowd to hear Jesus say
that he was gonna go toZacchaeus house because you see,
Zacchaeus was a tax collectorand he was considered to be an
outcast from society.
He was hated because not onlywas he considered to be a
traitor to the Jews for going towork for the Romans, but he was

(03:22):
also a cheat and he, he took acut from their taxes whenever he
could.
He was an untouchable in thecommunity.
Who can you think of that youconsider to be an untouchable in
your community?
Maybe it's someone with adiffering political view.
There's a lot of that going onthese days.
Maybe it's someone who behavesin a manner that you consider to

(03:43):
be unacceptable.
Maybe it's someone whoselifestyle is considered to be a
sin in the Bible.
How do you treat those people inyour life?
Do you avoid them?
Do you turn the other way whenyou meet them in the grocery
store?
If so, I encourage you toconsider that like Zaccheus,
Jesus loves those people too,and he wants them to hear the

(04:04):
good news of salvation every bitas much as he wanted you to hear
the good news of salvation, hewants us all to be in heaven
with him.
Jesus doesn't want us to justhear about salvation and the
life that we can have with him.
He wants us to live out thatlife.
He wants us to live out ourbiblical purpose like Zacchaeus.

(04:25):
God wants us to have a change ofheart and a change of behavior.
He wants us to demonstrate ourlove for him and others in the
way that we treat others.
I love how one description Iread recently described wisdom
is not just knowing God's wordbut acting on it.
Sadly, too many Christians inthe world today love Jesus.

(04:47):
But when they are asked to speakout about a cause that he has
led them to, they may back downbecause of what others might
think of them speaking outabout, that.
They may fear losing socialstatus, or business if they call
sin a sin They fear losing thelifestyle to which they've
become accustomed to Many don'ttrust that God will take care of
them when they follow him, andinstead they cling to the

(05:10):
promises of this world.
Some know that there is a betterpath, but they hold back out of
fear of what others will thinkof them.
If they take that better path,they fear being hated and are
afraid their family will leavethem, so they go along to get
along.
The question is, in doing so,are they counting the cost?

(05:32):
Are they willing to foregosalvation in order to avoid
having a difficult conversationor making an unpopular decision?
In today's world, think of therich young man who asked Jesus
what it would take for him togain salvation.
When told to sell his belongingsand give them to the poor, he
walked away.
The cost was just too much.

(05:53):
If this rings true to you Iwould love to invite you to join
me and some friends in aconversation titled More Than
the Money, preparing for theRetirement That really matters.
It's gonna be held virtually onAugust 27th, 2025, and it's
free.
If you're listening to thisbefore that date, I want you to
join us live.
You can register using the linkin the show notes or just reach

(06:16):
out to me and, and I'll get youthe information.
If you're catching the showafter that time again, reach out
to me and I will try and get youthe recording of the show.
I think it's gonna be a reallyvaluable conversation and I
would love to have you join us.
When we go all in for Christ,we're not promised an easy
trouble free life.
There will be times when it willbe difficult to follow in Jesus'

(06:37):
footsteps, but we need to knowthat he will give us the
strength to get through thosedifficult conversations and
those hard times.
At the beginning of the show, Ipromised to share a personal
story of counting the cost.
I had no idea what it meant WhenI took the leap into retirement,
I was clinging to this dream ofbeing able to live a life of

(06:57):
luxury, just working a couple ofhours a week traveling, reading
all kinds of books, laying onthe beach whenever I wanted to.
Even though I thought I wasfollowing God's lead, I didn't
realize until later that I wasso, so focused on the money and
so focused on the success that Ihad let go of some of the real
amazing gifts that God had instore for me.

(07:20):
I spent so much money chasingthat dollar, trying to prove my
worth in the coaching world andfind this perfect system but
none of it worked.
I was so desperate to make moneythat I lost sight of the mission
to help others find peace andfulfillment Beyond retirement, I
let go of my own peace.

(07:41):
Along the way and found myselfstressed out and overwhelmed
trying to do it my way.
I feel that the chapter titledThe Success Shift in my book, A
Different View, covers the topicWell.
Here's an excerpt from the book.
Most of us have it all wrong.
We've traded up treasures inheaven for building wealth and
power in this world.

(08:02):
I'll bet you've heard andpossibly used the term, I sold
my soul to the devil to getsomething or another.
Although we say it jokingly, thereality is many of us have.
We've stopped going to church towork additional hours or gain
greater recognition In the worldof sports, we've cheated on the
time clock at work in ourrelationships, and even in our

(08:24):
own integrity to have more,more, more.
But at what cost?
At what point will Satan cash inon our chips and call in on his
bet?
You probably think I'mexaggerating, but listen to what
James has to say about it all.
Look here.
You rich people weep and groanwith anguish because of all the
terrible troubles ahead of you.

(08:46):
Your wealth is rotting away andyour fine clothes are moth eaten
rags.
Your gold and silver have becomeworthless.
The very wealth you werecounting on will eat away your
flesh in hell.
This treasure you haveaccumulated will stand in
evidence against you on the dayof judgment.
James 5:1-3(NLT).

(09:07):
I know that sounds really harsh,but it's true.
We put way too much weight onsuccess as defined in this
world.
I wish I hadn't, but I gotcaught up in it too.
Then one day.
I realized that life didn't turnout the way I thought it would.
It was turning out so muchbetter.
Life was full of struggles andchallenges.

(09:28):
Thankfully, each one of thosestruggles and challenges made me
a better person.
Life didn't happen to me.
It happened for me.
Yes, God could have answeredsome of my prayers differently,
but I would've missed some ofthe lessons along the way.
And the unbelievablerelationship I now have with him
if he had, looking back, I don'tregret the path I've taken.

(09:53):
Every wrong decision led me toexactly where I needed to learn
the next lesson to serve God'spurpose.
Shifting my perspective from theworldview and seeing life from
an eternal perspective helped meredefine success.
And find true joy in my work.
You see, only when God showed mehis way was better and that he

(10:15):
had provided everything I neededdid I finally see the incredible
life he'd already given me.
I was living the life I reallywanted, spending quality time
with friends and family writingand podcasting, but I didn't see
it because I was searching inall the wrong places.
If that's you two, I encourageyou to stop.

(10:36):
Count the cost.
What are you giving up and whatwould you gain if you let go of
the worldly dream and startedfollowing where Jesus is leading
you?
Some will say it will cost you alot to let go of the things of
this world that bring comfortand ease.
But when you realize thatfollowing your eternal purpose
brings peace in this life andthroughout eternity, that cost

(10:59):
is absolutely worth it.
I wanna thank you for joining metoday, and I hope you'll come
back in a couple of weeks wherewe're gonna talk about the
Christian perspective ofdementia, something that's very
dear to my heart.
But in the meantime, I justwanna thank you for stopping by
and I pray that you will engageyour faith in all areas of life
that you will finish well andthat you will live your more in

(11:20):
your courageous retirement.