Guiding Stars

"I am the way, the truth, and the life…”

—     Jesus in John 14:6 

I’m a morning person.  One of my favorite things to do is arise early in the morning when the world is still dark and quiet.  I’ll slip out of the house to gaze up at the stars while worshipping the One who created them, created me, created everything that is and ever was.  My spirit rises every time I look up into the night sky.  Even on cloudy nights when I can’t see the stars it’s comforting to know that even though they are not visible to me at this time they are still there Just as they have been for millennia. 

I haven’t invested the time to learn many of the constellations but I can usually find the Starry Plough or Big Dipper and from there the North Star or Polaris.  Polaris is not the brightest star in the predawn sky but its constancy is comforting to a wandering, wondering pilgrim like me.  In preparation for leading our Class 6 Extreme Missionary Adventures a few years ago I took some outdoor survival courses at BOSS (Boulder Outdoor SurvivalSchool) in Boulder, Utah.  During the navigation course we learned to use Polaris as a guide star if lost in the wilderness.  Each night on the solo portion of the course I found comfort in Polaris as I camped alone in the vast wilderness of southern Utah.   I studied Polaris’s position in relation to the surrounding mountain peaks and other terrain. 

This week as I’ve been meditating on Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel I’ve been reminded of another guide star in our lives, one that is even more constant than Polaris.  Jesus told his disciples and us, “I am the way” and he often simply said, “Follow me”.  Don’t worry about where we are going, how we will get there or other distracting details.  Simply trust me and follow me.   

In the ever-changing, unpredictable outdoors Polaris is often obscured by clouds, trees or surrounding mountains.  However, if we have been paying attention to our surroundings and to where we are headed we will have a general sense of which direction is north.  This awareness will be our guide until we once again see Polaris.  Likewise, if we truly have been following Jesus, meditating on his Word and doing the things he tells us to do we will have direction, a purposefulness in our lives even during those dark nights of the soul when our guide star, Jesus, is obscured by surrounding circumstances and conflicting desires.

Orange Crush

Twice every year, as many as 40,000 aspiring monks arrive before dawn at Wat Phra Dhammakaya (pronounced tah-mah-guy), a gold-domed Buddhist temple north of Bangkok.  They are handed orange robes and herded into perfectly arranged rows, where they stand for two hours, chanting and bowing in unison.  They are then ordained as monks – some for a lifetime, others for just days – studying the Buddhist scripture and meditating according to the teachings of Phra Monkolthepmuni.  

David Browne’s words above and the accompanying two page photo in the April issue of Men’s Journal tore at my heart.  As I looked at row upon row of orange clad monks Joel 3:14 came to mind. “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!”  The thought of multitude upon multitude of Southeast Asians so desperately seeking spiritual answers has haunted me for days.  These are intelligent (many are well educated) people searching for answers to life’s important questions.  However, in spite of their intelligence and education most, if not all, are ignorant of the truth of Jesus.  It’s not that they have rejected Jesus.  They simply have never heard. 

I kept returning to this image praying for the tens of thousands of lost souls pictured and for the millions of other Southeast Asians they represent.  I asked God to open their eyes, their minds, and their hearts to his Word.  I pleaded for God to show them the truth they earnestly desire.   

God answered, in an unexpected way, through the words of Acts 26 where Paul explains his conversion and his calling to the Gentiles in Acts 26;

“I am Jesus…I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen…I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified in me.” 

The reason these people are still ignorant of Jesus is because those of us who have the truth have not yet shared it with them.  God has appointed us, you and I, as servants and witnesses to the lost world.  We have the answers they are seeking. 

Will you join Extreme Missionary Adventures on a 10 day mission trip to exotic Southeast Asia?  Our volunteers travel as tourists through restricted access countries while covertly praying for the people we meet and distributing Gospel literature.  Come join us on an adventure of a lifetime, an adventure with a purpose…to know Him and make Him known. 

Doing nothing is hard work

I came across this quote from Trappist monk Thomas Merton this morning while reading in Celtic Daily Prayer;

“The monk is not defined by his task, his usefulness;

in a certain sense he is supposed to be useless,

because his mission is not to do this or that job but to be a man of God.”

Doing nothing is a struggle for me.  I find it extremely hard to be useless.  I find my value, my place in this world through my accomplishments.  Even as I pretend to stop striving by sitting quietly my mind still races after one random thought then flitting after another.

Yesterday evening I built a nice fire in my outdoor prayer garden and sat a while meditating under the starry sky.  My verse for the evening was Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…”  But, oh was it hard for me to be still.  The voices in my head told me I could be using this time to do this and then they said I should be doing that.  After an hour or so of internal combat at last I felt myself quieting down.  I put away the thoughts of today, last week and next week.  At last, I sensed that longed for peace of God settling on me.

Doing nothing is hard work…but it’s worth it.