“Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” — Exodus 23:9
Welcome, ☺️
I’m glad you are here. Let’s take a moment to be still before the Lord. His Word is sure, His voice steady—worthy of our full attention and quiet surrender.
Having moved from California to serve as a missionary in Jamaica for eight years with my husband and children, I can say, “I know the heart of a stranger.” I have walked that path. I can sympathize with the difficult adjustments to new cultural settings and values. I can empathize with those whose hearts are both excited and breaking as they look to the future but leave behind everything they have known, facing the uncertainties ahead.
Even now, thinking back to the day we boarded the plane to Jamaica reminds me afresh of the pain of leaving family and friends behind, not knowing when we would embrace each other again. Today, though, as I look back on our years in Jamaica, I thank the Lord for the insights and lessons He gave me about being a stranger in a foreign land.
How can we know another’s heart? I believe we know it by walking a similar path.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” — Hebrews 4:15
Let’s take a look at the Lord Jesus, our example. He left His home above, came to earth, and walked as a man in this world. He knew hunger, homelessness, financial need, exhaustion, disappointment, hatred from others toward Him, good works misunderstood, unconditional love not accepted, the sorrow of broken relationships, to name a few.
The Lord knows intimately what we are going through today. When we cry out to Him in our various trials, we have the opportunity to learn, through personal experience, His path to comfort, provision, or healing. He would have us understand more intimately the truths found in His Word.
“His compassions fail not. They are new every morning.” — Lamentations 3:22–23
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” — Hebrews 13:5
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9
As we walk through our own trials with the Lord, we come to know these truths more deeply. We have experienced His faithfulness. We have discovered that His compassions are truly new every morning, that He will never leave us, and that His grace is truly sufficient.
Now that we have walked a similar path, we may be better able to come alongside those who are suffering. From our personal experience with the Lord, we can point them to our Father of mercies and God of all comfort, testifying that He can truly sympathize with us.
“The Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” — 2 Corinthians 1:3–4
