Are you a Sojourner
June 24, 2024 - This morning I am sitting in our new seating area and having coffee before starting the day. The music is playing, the fountain is flowing and the quiet is simply amazing. One could get really comfortable here. However, in my spirit I know that I can't linger here too long.
Recently, I was reading the story of the reconciliation that took place between Jacob and Esau. You know the story, but if you don't read Genesis chapters 27-33. Esau invited Jacob to return to his home and Jacob made every excuse in the book not to go with him. In part, due to fear. He still feared his brother. So Esau went south and Jacob went North.
Abraham, Issac and Jacob were sojourners. God had told them all not to build permanent dwellings. I had to ask myself, what is a sojourner? Definition....to reside temporarily; to dwell for a time; to live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger; not considering the place as a permanent habitation; to delay; to tarry.
The rest of the story goes that Jacob when arriving in Succoth, purchased a plot of land and built basically a lean to. Maybe not a literal house,but it was still a structure that he had erected on ground that he had purchased. He in essence Jacob compromised. He was tired of moving and he really wanted to "settle down" with his family.
This is what the Holy Spirit revealed to me. He asked me if I had in fact "settled down". Had I compromised. Had I become comfortable in doing what he had called me to do. Was I going thru the motions of serving. Had I become complacent, bored etc?
You see, all of us in some way or another are called to be sojourners. Spiritually speaking, we are never instructed by God in our hearts to "settle down" or become so settled that we will not go when He says to go or speak when He says to speak or give when He says to give. We should never compromise and in our hearts say, "well, I'll do this or that, and that will be good enough". God forbid! Compromise ALWAYS leads to destruction in one form or another. For example compromise can manifest as outright sin, depression, lack of peace, confusion, unfullfillment, lack of joy, boredom etc.
God wants our obedience. You may be tired and exhausted and you just want to quit and "settle down". You only do what is expected of you by others; no more and no less. Personally, Steve and I find ourselves, once again, in that place of tension. Do we "settle down" or do we press forward with what God is asking us to do. In our hearts are we truly sojourners? Never really settled, but always looking for our God to show up. Always dreaming, always expecting, always ready to go at a moments notice when He calls. May it be so Lord! May it be so.
What about you? Have you compromised and settled? If so, we pray that you discover the true joy of being a sojourner with God.
