I’ve had a difficult summer, physically, with both continued and new complications from my perforation a year ago. Of course, that hasn’t helped things mentally. We’re also going through a big change as a family, and so my posting has been sparse this summer.
Hopefully, I will get back to it in a few weeks once some logistical issues are concluded.
But I’ve been slowly reading two of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Matthew 1 and 2.
And I wanted to share this verse from you that I read this morning. I’m pretty sure you know it.
Matthew 2:1-2: “About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews. We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
Some translations omit “as it rose” and, instead, say the wise man saw Christ’s “star in the east”; this translation says “as it rose,” and scholars agree that “as it rose” or “when it rose” is best.
And that’s beautiful.
If you’re reading this blog you probably know a thing or two about dark times. Maybe you’re in one right now. Nothing good seems possible now or on the horizon.
Sure, others can talk about heaven, the hope of it and all that, but all that just feels like “all that.”
The night is so dark.
But if you can, look up. Look up when it’s quiet in your room, and it’s dark outside and in your mind.
There are stars.
And to see a star rising is to see life, and to see that a star has risen is to see that its potential has now turned into a fixed object of luminescence – one that will be there all night. One that will look down on you all night.
This star, the star of Christ, didn’t just rise in the dark for the wise men at the beginning.
It also rose from the grave for you and me, at the end of his life, and that star will never fall.
This star, the star of our Protector, rises in the night and watches over us as we’re sleepless. We just have to look up.
If we’re going to get through these nights, we can’t ever stop looking for that star. And if we find it, we may still feel the dark all around us. I can’t pretend otherwise.
But we do often feel comfort, despite the dark. The star is there.
God bless you, dear friends. Look for his rising star.
If you’re depressed, or struggle with any aspect of mental health…
For readers from the United States….
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.
For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.
