Live the Golden Line: The Quiet Testimony of the Stranger – Part 28

By Andre Eksteen

In Part 27 we saw that God’s children have always been strangers. They were never at home in this world, and not because there is something wrong with them — but because they belong to Someone else. Yet there is a big difference between feeling strange and living as a stranger. It is one thing to know you do not fit in; it is something entirely different to remain faithful in a world that does not understand you. That is where the real test lies — in how you live when everyone else watches, speaks, and thinks differently.

The world looks for noise. This is an age of opinions, platforms, and influence. Everyone wants to speak, everyone wants to be heard, everyone wants to be seen. But God’s voice has always come in silence. He never builds His kingdom through applause, but through obedience. He does not use the loud, but the humble. Look at Noah — he built for decades without followers or acceptance. Joseph kept believing in a prison without convincing anyone. Moses worked in silence for forty years before God used him. Even Jesus lived thirty years of ordinary work for three years of ministry. That is how God works. He shapes His people in silence, not in crowds.

The world says silence is weakness. God says silence is faith. “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15 KJV) Because silence requires trust. You cannot shout and listen at the same time. God uses the stranger precisely because the world can no longer listen. It is in the silence that the Spirit preaches His strongest sermons. It is there that He shows you do not need to speak to bear witness — you simply need to stand when everyone else falls. The Shepherd of Hermas says: “The righteous man preaches without words, and the sinner knows he has been preached to.” (Hermas, Similitude 8:2) Your life becomes a message, even when you say nothing.

I have seen people live with a peace that others do not understand. They speak little, but when you are in their presence, you feel something. It is not display; it is the fragrance of obedience. It is the silence of someone who does not need to prove anything, because he knows whom he lives for. This is the greatest strength of the stranger — he does not need to win, because he has already surrendered.

But this is also where the danger lies. It is easy to become proud of your difference. It is easy to think you are better, purer, more right than others. It is subtle pride, and it steals your testimony. The world does not need another hard-hearted believer who condemns people — it needs someone who brings light without judgement, truth without arrogance. Jesus never raised His voice to win. He simply lived the truth, and the truth had its own voice. “For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37 KJV)

There are many people today who think they are fighting for God, but they fight like the world — with shouting, hatred, pride, and self-righteousness. But you cannot use the devil’s weapons to do God’s work. “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20 KJV) If you shout back, you lose the gentleness that sets you apart. If you hate, you lose your holiness. It is not your anger that convinces the world — it is your purity. It is your peace that makes them wonder. It is your self-control that silences them.

The world does not understand peace. It understands pressure, power, violence, and profit. It understands how to win, not how to be still. But the stranger understands. He knows God’s power is not in noise, but in obedience. He knows his silence is not empty — it is full. Full of faith, full of certainty, full of the knowledge that God does not forget. The Book of Jubilees says: “The righteous shall silence the wicked by their peace.” (Jubilees 31:4)

I have seen people try to draw me into the world’s debates. They want me to respond, argue, prove. But the Spirit says: “Be still.” (Psalm 46:10 KJV) Because if you answer with your own voice, no one will hear His voice. And that is the great secret of the stranger — knowing when to speak and when to remain silent. When you are silent out of obedience, it is not cowardice; it is faith in action. It is the knowledge that God Himself is your defender. “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:14 KJV)

Elijah stood there too. He looked for God in the storm, in the earthquake, in the fire — but God came in the whisper. (1 Kings 19:11–12 KJV) And it has always been this way. The world shouts; God whispers. If you want to hear His voice, you must learn to listen in the noise. You must learn not to react to everything that moves. That is the strength of the stranger — the ability to remain calm when everyone else panics.

I look today at how people tear each other apart over politics, money, and opinions, and I see one thing: the world is tired of silence. It is afraid of it, because silence confronts you with yourself. That is why everyone stays busy — busy with opinions, busy with music, busy with sound. Because silence forces you to look at your own soul. But the stranger seeks that silence, because he knows that is where God dwells. “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10 KJV)

The world is always watching — even if it is not listening. It sees how you react, how you speak, how you act under pressure. It reads your life like a book. You do not need to preach to them; they are already listening. Every time you remain gentle where others become harsh, you testify. Every time you forgive where others retaliate, you preach. Every time you stay calm where others fear, you show who your King is. Your life tells them: “I have a peace that does not come from here.” (John 14:27 KJV)

But do not think this will make life easy for you. This world does not like people who are different. It does not like gentleness. It does not respect it. It does not understand it. It will exploit it, mock it, or try to break it. And yet it remains the only way to win. Because you cannot fight darkness with darkness. Light does not win by fighting; it wins by being.

It is not your task to change everyone. It is your task to remain pure. God uses the pure to remind the world of what is clean. The world looks at you, not to see how well you argue, but to see whether you live differently. Daniel lived among pagans, but he did not become like them. He turned his back on the king’s table, because he did not want to eat what was unclean. And that one decision changed his life. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8 KJV)

I say to you: do not be afraid to stand out. You lose nothing when the world rejects you. You lose when you stop being different. It is better to be strange in a world without God than to be at home in one without truth. Your silence, your purity, your calmness — they are not nothing; they are your testimony. This is how heaven speaks through you.

And when you grow tired, remember: you are not alone. God counts your tears while others count statistics. “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8 KJV) He sees your obedience in every ordinary day. He hears every prayer that no one else hears. He counts your small acts of faithfulness as great victories. The Book of Jubilees says: “The Lord writes down the works of the righteous, though the world sees them not.” (Jubilees 23:10) Your life has more impact than you will ever know.

So keep living quietly. Keep working honestly. Keep believing without display. That is how you carry light. Not through violence, not through noise, but through peace. That is what the world cannot imitate — a person who rests in a storm. “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.” (Mark 4:39 KJV) This is the testimony of the stranger: he lives calmly in a world full of storms.

And if people ask, “Why do you look so calm?” simply say, “Because I know who controls the storm.” Your rest preaches louder than any microphone. Your silence breaks more hearts than any argument. This is the quiet testimony of someone who knows who his King is.

When the world falls apart, the stranger still stands. Not because he is strong, but because he is anchored. His foundation is not in the news, not in politics, not in the economy — it is in God’s Word. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11 KJV) The world builds on sand; the stranger builds on rock.

I say this with certainty: the world may laugh at you now, but they will remember you later. They laughed at Noah until the rain began to fall. They laughed at Daniel until the lions grew silent. They laughed at Jesus until the earth shook. The world always laughs at the holy ones — until the day of judgement. “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you… for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11–12 KJV)

So carry on. Do not try to fit in. Do not dim your light. Do not adjust your truth to sound softer. The world does not need more half-truths — it needs people who live what they believe. Your purity is your certificate. Your peace is your proof. Your silence is your voice.

For God speaks through those who remain quiet when others make noise. He uses the stranger to remind the world of who He is. And one day, when this noise falls silent, only one kind of voice will remain — the whisper of faithful souls who say: “You were worth it.”

So keep standing, stranger. Keep believing. Keep loving. Keep forgiving. Keep working, even when no one sees you. Keep serving, even when you receive no recognition. Keep living, even when no one understands you. Because you live for a King who hears every silence.

The world has its crowds, its glory, its applause. You have something better — His presence. That is the reward of the stranger. Not applause, but peace. Not popularity, but certainty. Not status, but truth.

And one day, when you step across the boundary of this life, you will hear the words every stranger lives for: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21 KJV)

Because that is what you were all along — a pilgrim, not a resident. A witness, not a spectator. A son or daughter of another world.

The world will never understand why you do not fit in, why you look different, why you do not fight back loudly. But that is all right. Because you are not here to be understood; you are here to bear witness. Your silence is your testimony. Your peace is your weapon. Your difference is your strength.

And when the lights of this world go out, only one kind of person will remain — the strangers who did not seek their place here, but their home with Him.

Deep calls to deep. Answer Him.