Churched or not, we’ve all heard the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. However, Daniel’s story involved so much more than being thrown into a den of hungry lions and being saved by an angel of the Lord because of his faithfulness to God. Daniel lived displaced in Babylon under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, after being forced to leave his home in Jerusalem. He and his people, the Israelites, lost their home, temple, right…
It’s easy to quickly pass over the story of Ruth. Her life story is only a couple pages muddled in the midst of the “boring” Old Testament stories of the Law, Judges, and Kings. For me, Ruth is more like a hidden gem tucked away in the middle of very poignant movements of God loving his people toward redemption. Ruth’s story is the knot that ties God’s orchestrated plan together. Not only that, she’s a…
Exiled for grabbing what was forbidden, Adam and Eve, are the first displaced persons in the Bible. Forced and banished from their home to wander the earth as punishment for their sin as well as for their protection from eternal condemnation. God did not intend for us to permanently wander around in a state of punishment. He manifested himself to Abraham, and his future generations (including ourselves), to launch a pilgrimage of redemption and restoration…
“We like everyone else, are pilgrims on the way.” Compassion, pg. 61 Displacement. A very relevant word for our globalized world. The movement of people across the globe far surpasses the migration during the Industrial Revolution or the expansion of the Roman Empire. Population growth, along with other causes varying from political unrest and human trafficking to globalization and job accessibility, has caused the world’s cultures, customs, habits, and differences to now live directly next…
It’s the Final Countdown This is the song my family plays as we turn into our neighborhood after a long journey. We’ve come to the end of our travels and rock our way into the final stretch. It’s motivating, exciting, and can be played really loud in the car. It’s the best bookmark to any great adventure. In Michigan we had a long, gray and depressingly cold winter. I’ll take birds chirping at 5 a.m.…
