The story of Jesus is filled with so many facets to wonder about and reflect upon. One particular detail that I find interesting is in the story of the Magi.

One of my favorite Christmas carols has always been We Three Kings…I normally thoroughly enjoy most variations to the tune especially one by Tenth Avenue North featuring Brit Nicole!

SUPER GOOD!

But, I digress…

Matthew 2 introduces us to these 3 kings by saying they had been studying the scrolls from the prophets of “old” –

*important side note to remember: there has been~ 400 years of silence from the last prophet of God in the OT until this point*

-and these wise men saw that certain details prophesied all those years ago were coming true.

They told their king (Herod) and he “encouraged” them to go check this story out and come back to tell him if the Messiah- Savior of the Jews- had really arrived.

Fast forward past these three wise men following a star, finding baby Jesus, and giving Him the gifts…all great stuff with a story for each aspect…

However…I am focusing on the dream they had by God that told them to not return the way they came and to not report back to Herod.

Matthew 2:12 they returned to their country by a different route.

My Bible’s study note offers this thought – which is what has me processing things this morning while covered up in a blanket, sipping my cooled to cold coffee on the couch with my dog at my feet-

Finding Jesus may mean that your life must take a different direction, one that is responsive and obedient to God’s Word. In what ways has Jesus affected the direction of your life?

Interesting thought, isn’t it?

The Magi met Jesus and ultimately, after seeing this child as Christ, they went a different way…they even defied a king!

Upon meeting Christ, my life has most certainly gone into a different direction as well.

The biggies are obvious: I go to church, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t swear, I read my Bible, I talk about reading my Bible, I teach classes about the Bible, I hang around teenagers so they can know how to apply the Bible to their own lives…

The smaller stuff is less obvious but carries WAY MORE weight and meaning…

I am continually learning to trust the Lord with all things.

I choose to praise Him even when my heart is breaking.

I try to reflect the Lord in my trials and give Him glory in spite of them.

I am learning the discipline of seeking Him in all areas of my life.

I try hard to listen for His voice, counsel, guidance…and then obey what I hear even if it doesn’t make sense.

I am a work in progress for sure.

In 2010, I enrolled into a GriefShare class after the death of my sister in law. I was in utter despair and sinking into a pit of confusion and darkness.

The teacher of that class just recently told me that she remembers me saying in Week 1 or 2 that I wasn’t looking for anything from God so I didn’t want her to pressure me about Him or about going to church…frankly, I wanted help but not the Helper.

By the end of that 13 week class, I think I can say that my mind changed to wanting the Helper even if I did not get any help.

The teacher said she had sat back and chuckled over my defiance and let God do His work in me.

About a year later, this wonderful woman was moving away and put the prayer request out that a “new leader” was needed.

I felt a stirring in my spirit to speak up and volunteer.

At that time, I was eager in my young faith but my home life was kind of a mess as my husband had no desire to join me in my new relationship with Jesus.

As I drove to her house to volunteer myself as the new leader of the GriefShare class, I knew the timing wasn’t right and I knew she was going to tell me “no thank you”…Yet, I also knew that I needed to be obedient to that stirring in my spirit and go speak up anyhow.

I walked up to her door knowing full well I was about to be humbled by rejection…and I knocked anyway.

Be nice to hear a happy ending here, wouldn’t it???

That is not how God has worked things through with me though…He wants my trust and obedience before my qualifications and happy endings.

She said exactly what I thought she would say…” the timing isn’t right”, “take this time to keep growing”, “trust your marriage to the Lord first”…

Ugh. That was fun.

But I knew I did what the Lord would have had me do.

Six- eight months later, I am sitting at the GriefShare table assisting the new facilitator who became one of my most trusted, dearest, mother-type mentor friends to date…

Six months after that….I am leading GriefShare…my husband is a Christian and actively involved in the church while being supportive of this new challenging role for me in grief ministry.

How’s that for timing?

Talk about moving in a new direction after meeting Christ!

8 YEARS later, I am at a new crossroads.

Talking to the 1st GriefShare teacher, we both reminisced how the Lord brought this all about…we never saw it coming- she and I….that I, this rebellious angry griever turned Jesus enthusiast would become a minister for Christ towards those who need His encouragement and comfort.

I have been equipped, blessed, and strengthened in knowledge over these 8 years in this GriefShare ministry…I have grown, been challenged, and changed..

The course of my life has taken me deeper into the Word, onto the mission field, into discipling arenas, and called me into official ministry as a Proclaimer of the Good News…

I have been pressed but never crushed…struck down (down hard physically due to illness and emotionally due to others hurts and in my pride as well as I have had tobkearn to ask for help from others) but not destroyed…My trust has been challenged and tested more than once…

And here I am…in a life hiatus because this challenge on my health has finally brought me to my knees in submission.

I have stepped away from the organized class of GriefShare…youth leadership commitments….ministry school studies…

My body needs to heal, to rest…my heart has been battered and needs to be bound up….my soul requires restoring…I want to be protected under the shelter of my Saviors wings…nestled high on the Rock..

The emotional, spiritual, mental battle of a physical illness is as damaging to the spirit as a disease to a body…throw in some additional life challenges and you have someone who is really tired…that would be me.

Who will I be when I come to the other side?

What will I do?

What direction will I be going in then?

Only the Lord knew what would come from my entering that GriefShare class out of a draw to seek peace from a source I did not want to trust…

Only the Lord knew what confidence would be instilled into me when I chose to be obedient even when knowing rejection was coming when I stepped up to lead a class I was not ready to teach…

And only the Lord knows what He wants to do with me in this next portion of my life as I seek Him in this time of rest and healing…

I believe He is still training me and preparing me even now…

It is His direction I will choose to follow….because that is the path to peace, to light, to LIFE.

What direction are YOU heading now that you have met Jesus Christ?