Staying With The Light

Today is the day traditionally people have celebrated the coming of the Wise Men to visit Jesus and to present their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to him.  We call this day Epiphany.

We use the word “epiphany” to help us describe those moments when clarity breaks through for us in a particular area. 

I’ll never forget the morning 50 years ago when I awoke, after a very difficult season in my life, and “knew” for the first time that I personally and uniquely was loved by God – not because of anything I had done but simply because God loved me.

I recall walking around for the next few days as new connections to this thought took place in my mind and heart, “If God loves me, then ……” Although there have been ups and downs since than, I’ve never been the same since that epiphany. God didn’t change but my understanding of Him did and so I saw many many things in a new way.

The wise men had seen a star in the east and had travelled a long distance to find the king it represented.  It’s interesting that they had carefully made their way over many miles, only to get distracted at the last moment by their own understanding of how things would work. 

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. After Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked people, “Where is the child who has been born to be the king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Why did they stop in Jerusalem?  Because their was a king’s palace there and their understanding was that a king would be born in a palace.  The only problem, God had another plan.

Human understanding often limits our ability to see what God is showing us and, as is the case here, brings about consequences that end in suffering and hardship.

Although Mary and Joseph were able to escape to Egypt with Jesus, many boys under the age of 2 were murdered by King Herod as he sought to stamp out the “new king.” 

Loving God, when Your ways make sense to us we are more eager to walk with You but we confess that too often we end up in darker places because we allow our understanding of things to take us off Your good path.

Help us today to keep our eyes fixed on You and to walk carefully in the path You set before us, whether we understand all the reasons for it or not.  Amen

God’s love is unfailing and His guidance is 100% correct.  Let’s continue to pray for epiphanies in our understanding of how good God is, and walk with resolute obedience today in what He has shown us.