WHY LIVE AS STRANGERS?

WHY LIVE AS STRANGERS?

(You were meant to possess, not just occupy)

Main Scripture: Psalm 137:1–4 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion... How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?”

Spiritually and practically, some people have been saved for years, yet they continue to live as though they are strangers to the promises, opportunities, responsibilities, and purposes God has placed before them.

The question is: WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO LIVE LIKE STRANGERS?

1. A STRANGER DOES NOT HAVE FULL FREEDOM

A stranger often depends on the host for permission and access.

In the same way, some people have become comfortable living from permission to permission, borrowing to borrowing, and dependence to dependence.

God wants us to grow from consumers into builders, from dependants into responsible stewards, and from spectators into participants.

2. A STRANGER DOES NOT OWN PROPERTY

A stranger may stay in a house without owning it.

There is nothing wrong with renting or living temporarily; the spiritual lesson is about ownership, stability, and stewardship.

God gave Israel a land and told them to possess it.

We should therefore ask: What are we building that will outlive us?

God does not want us merely to occupy space. He wants us to become fruitful stewards of what He entrusts to us.

HOW DO WE MOVE FROM STRANGERS TO ESTABLISHED PEOPLE?

1. WE MUST EVALUATE OUR LIVES

Psalm 137:1 says: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.”

They sat down and reflected on their condition.

Jesus taught the same principle in Luke 14:28: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?”

Before we build, we must evaluate.

The problem may not always be that we have no resources; sometimes the problem is that we have not learned to manage the resources we already have.

2. WE MUST DESIRE A BETTER LIFE

Psalm 137:1 says: “We wept when we remembered Zion.”

They remembered where they had come from.

There are times when remembering what God intended for us should create holy dissatisfaction with our present condition.

We must refuse to make peace with everything that is destroying our future.

Proverbs 23:7 says: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Vision changes how we use resources.

When something becomes important to us, we find ways to make sacrifices for it.

People find money for weddings, funerals, medical treatment, legal matters and other urgent needs because they have decided those things matter.

Money should follow vision—not replace vision.

3. WE MUST NOT USE GOD'S WORK AS AN EXCUSE TO NEGLECT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Psalm 137:2 says: “On the willows there we hung up our harps.”

There are times when we must stop pretending that everything is fine and honestly examine our lives.

Some people are very committed to church activities but are failing in their responsibilities at home.

1 Timothy 5:8 says: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Our ministry to others must not become an excuse for neglecting those God has already entrusted to us.

We cannot use the pulpit to hide our irresponsibility.

True spirituality produces faithfulness at home as well as faithfulness in ministry.

4. WE MUST LEARN WHEN TO SING AND WHEN TO CRY OUT TO GOD

Psalm 137:4 asks: “How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?”

We should not use positive confession to deny reality.

Faith does not mean pretending that problems do not exist.

Elijah prayed for rain, but he also watched for the evidence of God's answer.

1 Kings 18:43–44 describes how Elijah repeatedly sent his servant to look toward the sea until a small cloud appeared.

Faith sees what God has promised, but faith also responds to what God is doing.

5. WE MUST IDENTIFY WHAT IS HOLDING US CAPTIVE

Let us honestly examine ourselves.

Perhaps:

1. We once lived better than we are living today.

2. There are things weighing us down and keeping us captive.

3. We have lost something—spiritually, relationally, financially or materially—that God wants us to recover or replace.

4. There are people, circumstances, or decisions that have interfered with our destiny.

5. We are doing things we do not truly want to do because we have become trapped by circumstances or wrong choices.

6. People are mocking our faith because our lives do not yet reflect what we profess.

But today, we refuse to remain strangers!

And we will move from captivity to freedom, dependence to responsibility, survival to fruitfulness, and wandering to establishment.

Dr Lawi Mshana, +255712924234, Tanzania