A sojourner
is a traveler; one who typically stays a short while. However, sometimes the
journey, or the stay, takes on a life of its own.
In my Bible
reading I have been wandering through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. I marvel at how the Children of
Israel, chosen as God’s people, tried in so many ways to wander away from God,
but our faithful God continually brought them back. Eventually these sojourners were delivered to the Promised Land.
This weekend
I heard a wonderful, miraculous story about a people brought through two
hurricanes to a different kind of Promised Land they call Promise Lane. See their story here.
It started
with an hour long drive to the airport from the hotel where I was a speaker for a conference
of early childhood teachers each with a ministry of their own. I asked my
driver what was his second job. He told me he did video ministry for a church
called Smoking for Jesus Ministry.
He got my
attention and I asked for more . . .
The church
began in New Orleans, in the 9th ward. When Hurricane Katrina
threatened, 50 families from this group evacuated to a camp in Texas only to be
evacuated again due to Hurricane Rita three weeks later. The end of their
sojourn brought them to Marble Falls, Texas and now to a former camp turned
ministry and neighborhood.
Yes, you
read that right, over 150 people, almost an entire congregation, moved more
than 500 miles away and set up camp to do the work God set before them.
I asked if
my story teller missed New Orleans, but then I realized most of his friends and
family came with him. He does miss the food, but the ministry runs a New Orleans’
style restaurant.
Think of the
faith with which God has blessed these folks. Think of His love and protection
for them – not only as individuals, but for their families, and their church
family.
Thank you,
Jesus.
I am
reminded of my ancestors, several generations back; sojourners of a different
sort, who boarded two boats headed from the Saxony area of Germany to St.
Louis, Missouri. One boat was lost at sea taking many of my relatives with it,
but a several-greats grandfather survived, built a life, a family, and a church
in his new homeland.
Thank you,
Jesus.
There are
more than a few ways to be sojourners. Sometimes God asks us to pack up and
move – quickly. Sometimes we come back, but more often than not we are expected
to rebuild a new life.
Sometimes
our sojourn is not a physical move. Instead, it is a sojourn of ministry.
Perhaps one door closes and another opens. Grief causes us to linger at the
closed door and ignore the new one. It is only by God’s urging that He reminds
us He is present in each place and throughout the transition between places. When we sojourn in this way our task is the same. We must set up
camp and proceed with the work God sets before us.
When the Children
of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, a foreigner named Balaam was
hired to curse them. God’s people were immigrants, soon to be inhabitants and
those who lived in the area were dead set against being conquered.
But, Balaam could not curse God’s chosen people. Instead, on God’s instruction, he blessed
them and prophesied
A star shall come out
of Jacob. Numbers 24:17
No matter
the nature of our sojourn, no matter where our faith takes us, Jesus, the star
of Jacob, is always with us. He is woven in and out of our work and our
journey.
