Our faith walk is often likened to a sojourn here on earth – a short stay in a place that is not our home – that's the Collins dictionary definition for ‘sojourn'. I think this word describes most appropriately a Christian's faith journey. We are sojourners. We're here for a brief time only, regardless of the number of years God has given us. None of us can claim that we live forever. Echoing Albert Brumley's all time gospel favourite, ‘This World is Not My Home', he says‘we're just passing through; our treasures are laid up; somewhere beyond the blue.

Although fraught with untold and unexpected challenges along this life's journey, it is comforting and assuring to know that being part of a believing community, we will always be in the company of people of one-like faith, who will come alongside us to share in the joy of our exploits and the pain of our heartaches. This model of community kinship is personified in the Triune Godhead, in which God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit live in a harmonious co-existence. No doubt, as children of God, we are called to carry our own crosses and follow Him – most times, alone – but as we go through the different seasons and landscape of life, I believe that if we listen hard enough, we will hear the whispers of God in the smallest and insignificant details along the way; He is constantly speaking to us in that still, small voice. Until we learn to be sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, we will never be able to hear His whispers. Whether we are in the summer or springtime years, on the mountain-top or in the valley encounters, God is always there... whispering, consoling, comforting, encouraging, applauding us. He says He will never leave us, never forsake us (Joshua 1:5). What a comforting thought! He promises to lift us up when we are down; He is the Glory and Lifter of our heads (Psalm 3:3); the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20), and most assuredly, He is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew1:23). The Scriptures state that He is a faithful God, keeping His covenant and mercy for a thousand generations for those who love and keep His commandments. (Deut. 7:9)

The people God brings to us along this path is also His way of telling us that we never walk alone. There will always be fellow sojourners, and we are promised the encompassing ‘cloud of witnesses' (Hebrews 12:1) running with endurance this race that God has set for His children. Our challenge is to finish strong as we journey together along this road of life. And at the end of this journey, we can declare vehemently, confidently, like Paul, that we have ‘... fought the good fight... finished the race... kept the faith'(2 Timothy 4:7).

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