Steps to Receiving God’s Guidance
Matthew 2:1-12
Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for speaking to us once again this year through the birth stories of Jesus. You encourage and inspire us through the experiences of Mary and Joseph. You stir our hearts once again. Now as we think about the wise men and their openness to your guidance, help us to see how their story applies to our lives. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our God is a God who wants to guide people in life. In the Bible we read the stories of many people who received messages from God to guide them. Sometimes God’s messages came through an angel. An angel came to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and gave her the surprise message of her life.
An angel also came to Joseph, the man to whom Mary was engaged. The angel came in a dream and told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary to be his wife.
Thirdly, an angel came to the shepherds that first Christmas and told them the good news that Christ had been born. In all these instances, God sent messages to people through angels to guide them in life.
The wise men in the Christmas story, however, had a different experience. No angel appeared to them to guide them to Christ. Instead, a star appeared in the east, signifying to them that something very important was happening.
God still sends messages to people. God sends those messages through the Words of the Bible. Sometimes we read God’s messages ourselves in the Bible, or in a Bible study group. Sometimes we receive God’s messages to us through a pastor, or a Christian friend, or a song with God’s messages.
I want to be guided by God. I’ve talked with many of you, and you have said the same thing in one way or another. You want to be guided by God. We human beings, gifted as we are by God, still need direction from God for life.
As we look at the story of the wise men this morning, we find that they believed three things that helped them be open to God’s guidance. They took a number of steps to be open to God’s guidance. This morning we will look at the three things that helped them be open to God’s guidance. Those three things are still are important to us today in our desire to be guided by God.
First of all, the wise men were open to God getting their attention. In chapter 2:2 we learn that they had seen an unusual star in the east. They could have ignored it, but they paid attention to the star. God put the star in the sky, far beyond their touch, but not beyond what their eyes could see.
The wise men, who were Gentiles, probably had been influenced by the presence of a large Jewish community who believed that God wanted to be their guide. The Jews remembered their history about how God had guided their ancestors within a cloud that moved by day. At night God had shown His presence in a pillar of fire. The wise men saw the star in the east and left their studies of the star to find the new king of the Jews.
They were open to God getting their attention.
How about us? Are we open to God getting our attention? And when God does, how do we respond? Do we ignore God? Or do we give God our undivided attention?
God sees the bigger picture for our lives. Who better is there to give us advice, direction, and leadership? God wants to catch our attention so that He can guide us. This may happen as we read the Bible. Sometimes a particular Christian speaker will be the person through whom God catches our attention. A song, an experience, a prayer, may be God’s way of reminding us that He wants to guide us.
About three or so years ago, I was going through a very hard time. I had been operated on for skin cancer on my nose that year. My husband’s, mother had become very ill. We were moving from the large home we no longer needed with our children gone. God caught my attention with a butterfly one day. The butterfly kept flying close to me. It was beautiful, playful, and reminded me of the new life we have in Christ. I smiled, and my spirits were lifted.
Then as we were moving, the butterfly reappeared at our new location a number of days. It was the same color, the same size as the butterfly that I had seen back at our old home and location. How could that be? I knew it was not coincidence. My loving God had planned it that way to catch my attention and to reassure me in that hard time of life of His presence.
Believe that God wants to catch your attention. Perhaps God has done that recently as you looked at the sparkling snow, or as the words of one of the Christmas carols touched your heart unexpectedly. Let’s encourage one another to believe that God wants to catch our attention. We believe that God wants to be our guide, and we are looking to Him.
Secondly, another step we can take in being open to God’s guidance is by having a willingness to ask questions. In chapter 2:2 we read that the wise men traveled to Jerusalem to ask people who might be wise than they:
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”
Sometimes asking questions is hard for us to do. We have our pride, even where God is concerned. We think that by the time we are adults, we should have a lot of knowledge, wisdom and understanding so that questions in life will not throw us for a loop. Sometimes we even begin asking our questions by saying, “I know that this is a dumb question, but…” Did you ever do that?
In Matthew 2:2 we read that the wise men wanted to learn more about what the star meant. Herod, the King, called the chief priests and the scribes, the experts in Scripture, to answer the wise men’s questions. It was from them that they learned that the prophet had foretold Bethlehem as being the place.
Suppose the wise men had not made the effort to travel to Jerusalem to ask their questions? Would they have missed out on finding the child Jesus? I don’t know. But the fact that they wanted more guidance so much that they were willing both to travel and to ask questions can encourage us to ask questions. We also can encourage others to ask their questions. As a church, we can be a safe place and safe people where others can ask their questions and not feel put down.
It’s all right to ask questions. Throughout the Bible we read of people asking God questions. Mary, the mother of Jesus, asked questions. The angel did not say to her, “Don’t ask any questions. Just believe what I said.” The angel answered her questions.
There will be times in life when we don’t seem to get an answer to our questions. Times like that are very hard in life. When our questions do not get answers, we have to trust in God anyway and keep on going. But sometimes we keep our questions to ourselves and God. Maybe we need to ask a friend, or a pastor, or a counselor, or read a book on the subject of our question.
When you and I ask our questions, it may be that someone else has been through an experience like ours in some way and they have gained insight. Maybe they need their faith strengthened even more through sharing their insight with some else who has the same question. Believe that God wants to be your guide. Having a willingness to ask God and others questions. And third, let God guide you to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Most of all God wants to guide us to His son, Jesus Christ, that we might worship Him and give Him our gifts. The star and the questions the wise men asked ultimately led them to the house where the young child Jesus was at that time. Some scholars think that Jesus may even have been two years old by then. The wise men fell down and worshipped the young child Jesus and offered their gifts.It may even be that Mary and Joseph used the three gifts from the wise men to finance their flight into Egypt. Mary and Joseph were not a well-to-do couple. Traveling from Galilee to Bethlehem and then fleeing to Egypt meant little or no income while expenses still continued. God provided for them.
The wise men meanwhile had the joy of their mission being fulfilled. God guided them and kept them focused on finding Jesus. They wise men in turn did their part by being open to God’s guidance. The effort they expended encourages us to put some diligent effort into finding and worshipping Jesus as our main purpose in life.
King Herod, instead, reacted to the news of Jesus with hatred and hostility. Why? Perhaps he was afraid that the little child would interfere with his power, his influence, his place in life. Some people today reject Jesus because they want to do what they want to do in contrast to the way of life to which He calls us.
The chief priests and scribes, though they were experts in the Scriptures and were the religious leaders of the day, showed complete indifference. They answered the wise men’s questions and then continued on as usual. They did not join the wise men in finding Jesus or in worshipping Him, or bringing gifts to Him. Some people today get so caught up in their own affairs that they become indifferent about Jesus.
The wise men’s reaction was so totally different. In chapter 2:11 we read, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
God wants to be our guide. God patiently answers so many of our questions. God faithfully leads us to Jesus. When we realize anew the love of our God, our response will be to worship the Lord Jesus with the gift of our life. Amen.
Prayer: Forgive us, O God, for the times we have forgotten to come to you for guidance. Forgive us for the times when we have turned our back on your guidance. Forgive us for the times we put our questions aside because of pride. Thank you for wanting to guide us and to help us with our questions. Thank you for wanting to guide us to Jesus so that we might worship Him with the commitment of our lives. Thank you for your promise to be our guide forever. Help us in the days and months ahead to do our part in being open to your guidance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
