God’s Guiding Light
saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)
You can walk through the darkest night when God is your guiding light. My wife Christina recently told me a story of being a student at Southern during Christmas. To make things more festive in her dorm room, she would get some empty boxes and wrap them with Christmas-themed wrapping paper topped with a bow. When her friends visited her, they would immediately notice her well-wrapped boxes placed under her Christmas tree. The reality is the boxes looked great on the outside, but if anyone were tempted to unwrap them, they would be shocked to discover that they were empty on the inside. Unfortunately, many people today desire to be outwardly blessed rather than inwardly transformed. If we are to be transformed, we must seek to follow the light!
In the 2nd chapter of Matthew, the Magi from the East declared, “We have seen His star.” Although they traveled at night with no streetlights to aid their journey or Google Maps to provide precision coordinates, God guided them with His star. Being in the dark can make us anxious, disorientated and cause us to lose our purpose. But even in the dead of night, God causes His star to shine. For some of us, when we thought our sins could not be forgiven we saw the star of grace. When we felt forgotten, we saw Immanuel’s star; God with us! When we were afraid, we saw the shining star of faith! The star reminds us that we can walk through the darkest night when God is our guiding light.
In speaking of God’s guiding light Ellen White shares, “We can walk safely in the darkest path if we have the Light of the world for our guide.”1 In other words, even in our darkest moments, God will give us a star to lead us through a lighted path. It may be that the star you see is barely twinkling, but it will be enough to see you through!
Reflect
As we begin the season of Advent, what are you longing for? Where have you been going for guidance in your life?
What is one thing you can do to seek God as your guiding light?
In what ways does Christ’s salvation give you hope and cause you to worship?
