To those who know me well, they know that my phone is literally my office. I use my phone to do a whole lot of things; wrote my first unpublished book with my phone; blogged for a whole year with my phone. I organized online classes with the phone. The list is endless. This is why I invest in getting great smartphones.
However, one day, a phone I spent my hard earned money on got stolen. That day was like a dream to me. I didn’t believe that I could lose my important documents and all my contacts in a jiffy. I could no longer hold my online classes. Even my presence on social media became limited. It was really a disaster for me at that period. I can say that my experience was similar to that of the wise men in the Bible; it was as though my star disappeared at that period of time.
Let’s consider the experience of the wise men in the Bible.
Matthew 2:1, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
That was the experience of the wise men. They were men who lived in the east; who had came to Jerusalem to search for Jesus Christ, the promised messiah, not knowing where Jesus was but they saw his star in the east and traced it to Jerusalem.
The wise men entered Jerusalem through the country of Jordan. But when they got to the outskirt of Jerusalem something appalling happened — the star that was guiding them disappeared. This was an inexplicable natural disaster to the wise men.
These were men who had travelled thousands of miles in the space of two years or thereabouts to see Jesus Christ. And at the time they almost got to where Jesus was, they experienced the most difficult challenge in their journey.
You too can imagine it; the star that had been guiding them in their journey suddenly disappeared when it had almost gotten to the point where Jesus Christ was. This was nothing but an inexplicable natural disaster to the wise men.
In order not to return to their country in vain, they decided to visit the king. They went to Herod the king to inquire where Jesus was, and when Herod heard about their reason for visiting the palace, he consulted his scribes and pharisees and later sent them to Bethlehem.
If we should take out time to review the experience, level of expertise and wisdom of these wise men, then we will know that in this life, no matter the position we hold and no matter our level of wisdom, we cannot prevent some certain things from happening to us. That is one major lesson I learnt when my phone was stolen right in front of me.
Those who were not present at the scene thought it was due to my carelessness. But it wasn’t due to my carelessness because I didn’t misplace it. It was just a natural misfortune that could have befallen anyone that was there just as someone also said to me at the end of the event.
And that was similar to the case of these wise men. They were expert in what they were doing; and they agreed to locate Jesus with His star. They were men who had communicated with themselves with the star. In fact, we can say their skills as astrologers were top notch. Nevertheless, their guiding star disappeared.
This was an act way beyond their control. Their level of expertise couldn’t prevent that from happening. For the Bible to have regarded these set of people as “wise men” then you should know these men were wise indeed. So, there is no doubt about their wisdom, still their star disappeared
Dear reader, I want you to know that no matter the level you are in life, no matter how careful and righteous you are, you cannot stop some certain things from happening to you. The earlier you let this truth to sink into you the better.
Jesus Christ said in His word that if we should seek him with all diligence we will find him. The wise men were seeking Jesus Christ, the new born messiah at that time. That was their only purpose – to see Jesus Christ. What now happened to them? Did they return when the star disappeared? Let’s read the succeeding verse of that chapter.
Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” Glory be to God!
The wise men had what I call singleness of purpose. It was the singleness of purpose which they had that made them not to return when they encountered a difficult challenge in their journey.
You, as an individual reading my article today, do you have a singleness of purpose? What you’re currently doing now is there a definite purpose for it? Do you even have a purpose for reading this article now?
If you don’t have a purpose for a particular thing which you do, you will lose the value of that thing. And you will not be able to forbear the challenges you may encounter while doing that thing. For instance, if you don’t have a definite purpose for reading my article, you will lose the message I am trying to pass across and you will not be able to endure the pain reading all the words.
Let’s emulate the wise men. They didn’t embark on their journey without having a clear purpose for it. That was why they didn’t go back the way they came.
I believe you know the end of the story? Immediately they left the palace the star that guided them from the east reappeared. Oh, if you feel that your own star has disappeared due to the numerous challenges you’re facing, I want to assure you today that your star will reappear!
That is the crux of today’s message – to remind you that tough times don’t last but tough people do. I am not going to tell you that you won’t encounter difficulty, you sure will experience diverse challenges. I will not deceive you by telling you that the road to success is all rosy, my dear, if it were, everyone should have been successful. But I’m going to tell you that amidst all the oddities of life, even if it seems that your star has disappeared, it will reappear.
Know that no matter the challenges you are facing in life, if you stick to the just cause of your purpose, even if your star disappears at a point and it seems no one notices you, your star will definitely reappear again.
The wise men star reappeared; they saw Jesus and left with great joy. You star will reappear, too!
Request: Kindly share this article with your friends, it may minister to someone you don’t know.
God bless you. I love you.
Get a copy of my book here:
It’s too late to be ordinary, the only option you’ve got is to be exceptional.
I’m Emmanuel, the exceptional being.
