The Problem With Following Stars

I was camping with my family this summer when my oldest son pointed out something that I knew, but I had forgotten. He said “Man Dad, look at all the stars you can see when you’re camping!” We like in Salt Lake City, and just like any other city, sometimes you just don’t see the stars (add in the fact that Salt Lake has some of the worst air quality in the country, and you really don’t see stars!) So, the problem with following stars, is that you don’t always know where they are!
That’s what happens to the Wise Men in the first part of Matthew 2. They say they got to Jerusalem by following the star they saw rise in honor of King Jesus. But after they got to Jerusalem, apparently the star wasn’t all that apparent! So, what do you do when your star isn’t there anymore? What do you do when the plan you’ve been following isn’t giving you the answers?
As Christians, we are following God with our lives. There are many times that we feel like we know exactly where we are going and what we are doing. You’ve gotta love those days where you can wake up quoting Jeremiah 29:11 and walk out the rest of that day in the confidence of its truth. There are certainly days when the star you’re following (God’s plan that you’re following) is bright and clear.
But then again, there are those days when the star isn’t shining. There are those days when you don’t know why God loves you, or what His plan is for you. Those are those days when you almost want to find a happy Christian that’s full of purpose and plan, and punch them in the face!! Why?? Because you don’t see the star… You can’t see God’s plan or His direction for your life… You can’t figure out what to do or where to go…
So, what did the Wise Men do when they didn’t have a star to follow?? They kept on task! They continued their mission! They took up the navigating! They went around Jerusalem asking if anyone knew where they could find this new King that had been born. They didn’t let a change in the plan hold the plan back. They knew they had been directed by God. And what God starts, God finishes!!
Check out what happens! Once they’ve asked around, and they know which direction they should be going, Matthew 2:9 says that the start reappeared!!! God’s plan seemed to have disappeared, but really, His plan was for the Wise Men to do a little bit of the direction-finding for themselves.
So, what do you do when your star disappears? Keep going! Keep moving forward! Keep pursuing God’s plan!! Keep going in the direction that God has been guiding your life! You may never be certain that the direction you’ve chosen is the right one. But after you do your best to keep following God’s plan, trust that the plan disappearing actually was part of the plan!! Just keep going!!
The problem with following stars is that you can’t always see them (kinda sounds like following God!). But, when we can’t see the star, when we can’t see the plan, we need to keep pursuing the King!! We need to keep seeking Jesus!! We need to keep moving toward our ultimate goal… Just like the Wise Men did. We need to keep getting ourselves closer and closer to being able to bow down before the King in worship.