Welcome to Journeys To Joy, Staci.
Are You
a Star?
By: Staci
Stallings
Our world today is obsessed with
stars–celebrities who make a lot of money, gain a lot of fame, or otherwise
dominate the chitter-chatter of masses. Many of us wish, even if
fleetingly, that we could be a star, but most will never attain that “level” of
“success.”
I found, however, a different and
probably more important way to be a star this weekend. So if you’re
interested or have ever thought it would be nice to be a star, here’s your
chance!
Not sure where this thought came
from other than “up there,” but I was thinking about how a year or so ago, my
sister compared me to the Magi. I believe I wrote about that at the
time–how she said I was a Magi because I was always looking for signs that
would point me to God. I thought that was really cool at the time.
This weekend, I had cause while thinking about that, to look just a little
higher into the story.
I happened to be at my hometown church,
which is always good for a few hundred incredible insights into life, and at my
hometown, they have this HUGE creche inside the church. The trees are as
tall as live trees, decked out in white lights with this star above it.
Of course, Mary and Joseph have the Baby Jesus lying in a manger
underneath. This year I had cause to think about that star. The one
so long ago. The one that was there, shining in the night, guiding the
Wisemen to the place where Jesus was.
You may have heard the saying, “Wisemen
still search for Him.” Wise men still look for stars, just as I was those
years ago when my sister dubbed me a Magi. But what about that
star? Maybe it had a story too.
Now, I know, stars don’t have
feelings and thoughts. They are put in the sky for a time by God, and for
their time, they shine, then they burn out and disappear. (A bit like us,
don’t you think?) But consider what if… what if… that little star so long ago
DID have feelings and thoughts. What would they have been, since that
little star was SO far away from the action and burned for much longer than
most of us celebrate Christmas (at least a year by most accounts)?
It might have gone something like
this, “This is pointless. I mean, when I first got here, it was fun,
dancing around and everything. But now, all I do is shine and shine and
shine in the middle of all of this darkness, and what has it gotten me?
Burned fingertips that’s all. I’m not even making a difference.
Look at all this darkness. It’s still here. I look out there, and
there are other stars. Sure most aren’t as bright as me, but they aren’t
doing much good either. I mean, look at ALL of this darkness. We
can never hope to overcome it. What’s the point? Maybe I should
just tell God I’m a failure and go home. I mean, how long can He expect
me to keep this shining thing up? I’ve been out here night after night
after night, and nothing. Sure, I heard the choirs of angels singing a
couple times at first, but they haven’t done that in months. Now I’m just
out here, all alone, shining for no one to even see. In fact, I bet those
people down there on the earth don’t even know I’m here anymore…”
That’s the way we get, isn’t it?
Discouraged. Tired.
Thinking whatever we’re doing is so meaningless as to be pointless.
We don’t often see and understand
the real difference we are making… or could be making in the lives of others.
We don’t see those three Kings
looking at our light and following our light to the Presence of Jesus in the
world. So sometimes we’re tempted to give up, to go home, to tell God
it’s too hard. But maybe we should take a few lessons from that little
star about how to be a real star in this world.
First, the star recognized the
Presence of Jesus, and the Presence of Jesus lit up the star’s life. Do
we recognize the Presence of Jesus in our lives, or do we slog through the day
with our head down and our bodies on auto-pilot, trying to just get to the end
of the day or the end of the week? There is a better way. FIND the
Presence of Jesus all around you and inside of you. Be a Magi. Look
for it. The star found it and wanted to tell the world.
Second, let His light shine through
you. That little star had the first burst of excitement, but after that,
it needed God’s power to stay lit. Let God’s power light your life as
well.
Next, remember that you never know
who your light is leading. I guarantee you, no matter who you are or
where you are, someone is paying attention to your light and your life.
They are watching how you live and taking their cue from that. It may be
someone you don’t even know. When people walk into your office, do you
smile and greet them happily? Or do you grumble and wish they would go
away and let you get some work done? There are wisemen and women out
there, looking for someone to point them the right direction. Is that
person you?
Are you a star?
You can be, but you have to
recognize the possibility and then act on it. And when you get
discouraged, always remember, just like that little star, God put you here for
a reason. You may not know what that reason is, but I challenge you to
shine as best you can and let God work out the details you can’t even
see. The star did, and because of that, we still sing about that little
star today. To me, that’s worth remembering!
Copyright Staci
Stallings, 2009
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