Sojourner
“Which room is mine?” My son, Micah yells as he runs down the hall of the third house we stayed at that week. He looks from door to door until finally someone says, “This one is yours!”
For the last few months our family has moved from house to house waiting in anticipation to move to Poland. And as I have watched our three year old adapt to his constant changing environment, he reminded me of a biblical principal that is so easy to forget in the comforts of our every day lives and routines; this world is not our home. We are but sojourners; temporary dwellers making our way through a place that is not our promised land.
Now I must confess this is not something that I was teaching Micah before our circumstances pushed this oh so comforting truth in my face day after day, move after move. Yet, as I have been reading through the book of Genesis this word sojourner keeps jumping off the page as I read of the journey of the great Patriarchs of the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We are all sojourners in this world. Temporary residents. Yet, it is so easy to get comfortable and forget this world is not our home; that material possessions should not be our treasure. Earthy comfort and security is not our goal.
So what happens in a home where this “sojourner” spirit is fostered not just in our children but in us as well? As I said earlier, this is not a biblical principal that was being taught to Micah until God used our physical circumstances to graciously remind us daily that this world is not our home. And we constantly ask the question, “Where is home?”
How will our families be transformed by this biblical truth? Because what we believe determines the way we live. Trying to answer these questions sent me to the scriptures seeking to know how it has affected others! This is what I found. And this is a testimony of how God has worked this truth out in our family. Fostering a sojourner spirit in our families will lead to:
Families who live by faith: Hebrews 11:8-9: By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Families who acknowledge and live daily in the truth that heaven is our home, thereby living with an eternal perspective: Hebrews 11:16: But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Families who choose obedience over comfort and luxury: Hebrews 11:25-26: By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
Families who joyfully endure suffering: Hebrews 11:36-38: And others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
1 Peter 4:12-19: Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you: but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.
Families who have the power to overcome temptation: 1 Peter 2:11-12: Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Families who have an unshakable hope: Romans 5:1-21: Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Daily now this truth hits me in the face: I am a sojourner. I am a woman headed home but not there yet. Paul’s declaration “To live is Christ, but to die is gain” is no longer just black letters on the page, but a new perspective in which my every day eyes see through. Hope explodes in the space of these walls. Temptation loses its power when I gaze on eternity. And the messiness and blows of life seem sweeter as I run this race towards Jesus, my true resting place.
Lord, let us not get so comfortable in our everyday comings and goings of this world that we forget we are sojourners passing through. Thank you for hardships and sufferings that cause us to let go of the things we hold so tightly. Help us to walk daily in the belief that this world is a temporary dwelling place and lift our eyes to you the author and perfecter of our faith.
“…what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11-13
Jenn Freeman is a missionary in Gdansk, Poland where she and her husband, Kurt, and son, Micah, serve as church planters, aiming to bring the Gospel to the families of the nations.
