A Star, a Journey, and a Promise

Have you ever considered what the journey may have looked like for the wise men searching for the Christ child? Do you find your life resembling a similar journey?

A journey through the wilderness. God taking a person or a people to a new place, often one of promise. It’s one of those reoccurring themes in scripture.  It’s a theme I can relate to in my own life.  This season of life has pulled me in to ponder a little longer about several important journeys associated with the coming of Christ into the world. One that’s been on my heart lately is that of the wise men.

They came “from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

They were then directed to Judaea of Bethlehem. “The star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matt. 2: 1-11, KJV)

We can read about their experience in less than a minute, but it actually took years to unfold.

I wonder what the wise men felt when they saw the star, foretold by prophets of old, signaling the birth of the Messiah.  They witnessed a sign of Christ, then embarked on a journey to find Him.

Have you ever had a “guiding star” experience? One where you feel clarity, vision, and purpose from God for your life? Maybe it was a powerful experience where you were filled with God’s love for you and you understood what He wanted you to do and to experience in the future. I have.

I’m recognizing a pattern in my life though, one that is made more clear through studying other journeys taught in scripture.  When I have these “guiding star” experiences, they are often followed by a journey God calls me on to get to the promise.  It includes traveling through figurative deserts and wilderness places.

Recently, as I was driving and praying for help, healing, and understanding, the wise men’s journey came to my mind. There were surely difficult parts of this journey “from the east to Jerusalem”. They had the guiding star in the sky at night, but what about the times they felt lost or were experiencing the extremities of traveling in the desert and the wilderness?  Years of traveling was required to act on that initial experience of seeing the star.

As I was praying, I had the tender thought come to my mind to pray for the blessing of “help to discern my journey.”  We don’t always feel a constancy of the spirit, even when we’re headed in the right direction. We may not always know we’re really going the right or best way. But instead of allowing discouragement to envelop our journeys, we can pray for discernment to know that what you and I may be experiencing is a part of the journey.  We may be going through current discomforts precisely because we’re on the journey God guided us to and are headed in the right direction.

It takes time to see the promises made actually come to pass. But we can “see the promises of God afar off” (Hebrew 11:13) and find peace and patience in our current reality. We can know the reality that the wilderness and desert can be uncomfortable, lonely, and we may even feel lost at times. But as long as we keep an eye focused on the stars—the guidance God gives us— we’re on the right path and are okay. After all, Christ even said He can and “will make our wilderness like Eden, and… desert like the garden of the Lord” (Isaiah 51:3).

The wise men faithfully and courageously embarked on a journey. They used the star to guide them to the Christ child and eventually made it to Him and had the unimaginable experience of worshipping the long-prophesied of, Savior of the World.

As we seek Him, we will find Him all along the way and have priceless experiences of personally worshipping Him.  One day we too will kneel at his feet and worship Him.

I invite you to view “The Christ Child” below.  What parallels do you see in the journeys taken to worship Christ in your own life?

How can you choose to faithfully and courageously seek Christ this coming year?

Photo by Jamie Davies on Unsplash