No Heading Back….

Ruth could only wonder aloud to Boaz, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?"

Boaz replied, "….you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (Ruth 2:10-12).

It stands out strongly here—I am a foreigner. I have been in Honduras for one month again, in complete Spanish immersion with the exception of email. I am whiter than everyone else and about a head taller than most of the people, men included. You know you've arrived when you are biking down the road and you hear shouts of "La Gringa!" (translation: "The White Person!"). There are no other missionaries here and almost no other gringos in this corner of Honduras.

But by the grace of God, I am here celebrating the New Year's. I am a foreigner here, but all of us are foreigners in some ways. Perhaps you are entering the New Year with a lot of uncertainty—entering into a time of "I don't know." Like those in the Hebrews hall of fame, we live by faith as foreigners. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth" (Hebrews 11:13).

But we have come to take refuge under the wings of God, clothed and adopted by Him, redeemed by the very blood of Christ.

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household" (Eph. 2:19).

He will never leave us nor forsake us, and it is him who makes us stand firm (1 Cor. 1:9). "And all the promises are "yes" in Christ— For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor. 1:19-22).

And we have a certain hope—He will come again for his own. He will not leave us. He has brought us this far as foreigners and strangers; we do not turn back. We are looking forward to a kingdom that cannot be moved with a King who is the Rock of Ages and who never, ever changes. He is the same forever. So, wherever we are foreigners in whatever sense, He is with us.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29).

So we press forward. And like the pilgrims of Israel traveling to Jerusalem, we may be weary and have hot sun. But they sang what we know as Psalm 121, every year when they traveled to the Holy Feasts:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

 

The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

 

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.