10.29.22

Two weeks ago, I drove about 40 minutes north of Milwaukee to a park on Lake Michigan for a ‘clear my head’ type of drive. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and confused about some things and needed to get away for a bit. I’m sure you know the feeling. When I got to the park it was dark outside; I got out of my car, and the first thing I noticed was the stars in the sky. They were unbelievable! There were thousands of them, and each one looked brighter than the next. I didn’t know we had stars like that in Wisconsin. Turns out, we do – I just never see them because I live in the city and the downtown lights drown out the wonder of the stars.

I never know when or how something is going to click, but that night God used those floating balls of fire to help give me peace and bring some clarity. I realized my overwhelmed and confused state was because I had too many city lights in my life, and they were creating a distracting haze – clouding purpose and wisdom only God can provide. For me, the city lights were different things with my job, social media, relationships, tv shows, my future, ect. City lights are not always bad things, but when you have too many of them fighting for attention in your day-to-day, it drowns out what’s important in life… just like the streetlights of Broadway Avenue drown out the beauty of Milwaukee stargazing.

That night God told me to fix my eyes on him, and he will make my path straight in all other areas of life. Any city lights which bring a haze to Jesus, need to be up for reconsideration. This is a weeding out process we all need regularly to make sure we have time for what matters most in our lives. That night at the park, I thought of the wise men who used the star of Bethlehem to guide their journey to baby Jesus. They saw a star and followed it, and when they found Jesus, they were filled with immeasurable joy!

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 18:12)