Sojourner

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Sojourner

Earthly Resident

Traveling Passing Journeying

Dwelling for a Time

Glory bound 

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Genesis 26: 2 to 4

The Lord came to Isaac and told him not to go down to Egypt. I will tell you which land to establish your camp. Sojourn in this land. I will stay with you and bless you and also your descendants. I will give you these lands in order to fulfill the promise I made with your father Abraham. Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

Isaac was told to sojourn in a special land. He was thinking about going down to Egypt. Like many people he had heard stories about how this land was good for farming and had many riches. 

God had other plans. God wanted Isaac to be in a special place and to lay down his roots. 

This had to be a conflict for him. To whom should he listen? 

Isaac followed God's plan. He sojourned in Canaan where God wanted him to flourish and where his family grew and prospered.

We all take many journeys. Everyone likes to travel and explore new places and meet new people.

With all the restrictions that have been in place due to COVID-19, it has been much harder for people to travel as much as they used to. Kathy and I have been exploring a lot of the sights right here on Long Island. It is amazing how many beautiful beaches and parks we have.

Recently we were heading for the beach but took a detour to a park. It was a sunny day and as we walked Kathy spotted the path in the woods with the sun streaming through in the photo above.

It is amazing on our sojourns what we can find if we are open to following God's direction and not our own. Our God is a God of delightful surprises. We were certainly surprised that day!

In those surprises we can find God waiting for us at each step on our journey and leading us to blessing and glory just as God led Isaac to a special land.

As with Kathy's photo, we can see our path and take our sojourn to glory!

1. Have you ever felt that God was asking you to change your plan like God asked Issac to change his?

2. Have you ever made surprising discoveries as you travelled?

3. Where does God want you to sojourn?