I looked up the members of my college year group recently and discovered that many of my friends have died. It was a sober reminder of the shortness of life. We’ll live to 70 or 80, give or take a few years, and then we’re gone (Ps. 90:10). Israel’s poet was right: we’re but strangers here and sojourners (39:12).

The shortness of life makes us think about our ‘end’—the measure of our days and how fleeting they are (v.4), a feeling that grows more certain as we draw closer to the end of our lives. This world is not our home; we’re but strangers here.

Yet we are not alone on the journey. We may be strangers here, but we are with God (39:12). And that makes the journey less troubling, less frightening and less worrisome. We pass through this world and into the next with a loving Father as our constant companion and guide. We’re strangers here on earth, but we are never alone on the journey (73:23-24). We have One who says, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).

We may lose fathers, mothers, spouses and friends, but we always know that God is walking beside us. An old saying puts it like this: “Good company on the road makes the way seem lighter.”

Author

David H. Roper

Topics

Our Daily Bread