“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4
It has probably been fifteen years ago that I gave a message on Sunday morning at Bon Berger in Caredeux and took off my right sandal and held up for all to see; and congregation members giggled at me initially. Then I asked if they knew where this sandal had traveled and how God had used it and me for His benefit. They were amazed at how many cities throughout Haiti it had been in and the number of places it had brought the Good News of Jesus to people who had not yet turned away from vodou and been moved by the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Where do you suppose the shoes in this photo have been in Haiti and what have they accomplished for our Heavenly Father? These shoes have probably not ventured too far out of Cap Haitian, and they appear to be hand-me-downs and there certainly is nothing wrong with that. These shoes certainly have been around people who are following the vodou priest and prayerfully they have been Spirit led to sow seeds that will bring them to Jesus. What about your shoes? Where have they have been and what have they accomplished to bring more people into the Kingdom? May your steps continue to bring more souls into a close relationship with our Savior on this side of Heaven and one day we can meet there by the shoe rack and put them to rest and joyfully recall how our time here was instrumental in bringing lost souls to Salvation thru Jesus. I’m closing today with the words from the hymn ‘I'm but a stranger here’ that were written by T. R. Taylor in 1836.
“I'm but a stranger here, Heav'n is my home; earth is a desert dread, Heav'n is my home. Danger and sorrow stand round me on every hand; Heav'n is my fatherland; Heav'n is my home. What though the tempest rage, Heav'n is my home; short is my pilgrimage, Heav'n is my home; and time's wild wintry blast soon shall be overpast; I shall reach home at last, Heav'n is my home. There at my Savior's side, Heav'n is my home; I shall be glorified, Heav'n is my home; there are the good and blest, those I love most and best; and there I, too, shall rest, Heav'n is my home. Therefore, I murmur not, Heav'n is my home; whate'er my earthly lot, Heav'n is my home; and I shall surely stand there at my Lord's right hand. Heav'n is my fatherland; Heav'n is my home.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.