February 2, 2026
— C.S. Lewis · Source: Mere Christianity, Book III, ch. 10 "Hope"
Hebrews 11:13-16 These people died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen it afar off, and being glad to meet it, and acknowledging that they were strangers and sojourners on earth. Those who say such things show that they seek a country. If they had remembered the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. But they desire a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
That lingering sense of dissatisfaction in life is actually a guide home left by God for our souls. We often blame our current setbacks, loneliness, or emptiness on our circumstances, but Hebrews tells us that this feeling of being a "stranger" is proof of our identity. Lewis reminds us neither to despise earthly blessings nor to mistake them for our true country, but to keep the desire for that country alive and make pressing on toward it the main object of life. We don't seek solace for our souls in this world, but rather traverse it driven by our souls. Acknowledging ourselves as sojourners is not pessimism or world-weariness, but a clear-headed realization: since our roots are not in the earth but in the heavens, worldly gains and losses can no longer bind us.
Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for placing an eternal longing in my heart. Lord, help me accept my identity as a "stranger" in this world, so that I am neither lost in a foreign land nor complacent in my temporary dwelling. When the world tries to define me by material things and logic, remind me that my true home is with You. May this "dissatisfaction" draw me ever closer to You, so that in these brief days of sojourning I may live with the hope that comes from heaven, and help those around me press on toward that better country too. May my soul stay awake, knowing that I was made for You and will at last find eternal rest in Your embrace. Amen.