Where's your NORTH STAR leading you?

Photo Credits to:  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bennett000

If there is one thing that I love when I go to our cottage, it is sitting outside on our deck, on a crisp winter evening and looking up at the night sky.  We don't have power at our cottage, so once everyone else has turned off their propane lights for the night, and if there isn't a moon in the sky, it is the most amazing feeling to look up into the night sky and see all the millions of stars.  Another favorite time is lying on the docks at night in the summer.  Same overwhelming feeling.  I know very little about the constellations, but my man at least knows more than I do.  At least some of the major ones.  Very often he will try to point out the big dipper, the small dipper, and any others that he knows.  The north star is always one that he is able to pick out.  But for the life of me, I could never tell you which one it could be.

Years ago, and perhaps, by some still today, the north star was used to figure out directions.  If you were lost on the seas, at night, you could always tell which direction you needed to go, by finding the north star and heading into it's general direction.  But doing so, would require you to know at lease SOMETHING about the constellations.  For me, I'd be better off just to stay put rather than following "my north star" because chances certainly would be that I ended more lost than what I'd start out as.  However, if you did know exactly where to find that north star, you could always use it to navigate your way home.

As I've looked at the starts in the past, I have seen the big and small dipper, I have seen the north star (because my man pointed it out to me) but just because I've had them pointed out to me, does not guarantee me success in using it to navigate me anywhere!!!  I would have to do some serious looking and understanding to figure out which star exactly was the North Star.  If I chose the wrong one, I would be in a mess of trouble.  And if I accidentally started following a shining satellite, well, I'd definitely be off course!!!

Isn't that the way with our life too?  What/Who is the north star that we are following to direct our life course?  What are the thing(s) in our lives that we are focusing on that we strive towards?  What do we know about the North Star (God)?  Are we listening to what others are telling us about the North Star, or are we researching it ourselves and finding out exactly how to find it and follow it?  Have we decided that we can take our eyes off the Star and go it on our own for awhile? I know I can see God/North Star, but what happens when I do start following Him?  Do I look down at the area around me, and loose my focus?  Do I look down, see a path and decide that I can follow that path on my own, rather than follow God, my North Star?  Do I look down and see all the "brush" of life around me and panic because I've taken my eyes off of Him?

It sounds awful, but it is so easy to loose my focus on God!  So often, I look down at the "brush" below and think "this is too much. . . this is too awful."  But I've taken my eyes off of Him.  I'm not looking in the direction that I should be.  I'm looking down, when I should be looking UP!  My focus needs to stay on God, my spiritual North Star, because without HIS guidance, I'm lost.  Without His light there for me to follow, I'm just going to go in circles!  AND, if I don't really know who He is, I may easily be swayed by other things/teachings, that are not from God.  Any star might look like the north star.  And what if something shines brightly?  Am I lured by it's brightness or am I striving to focus on the north star, and only the north star?  So often I find myself distracted.  By situations.  By stresses.  By people.  By things.  By my desires.  And I loose my focus.  I take my eyes off of God - my north star.  And it either causes me to panic, or just as often, it sends me to directions of uncharted waters.  It sends me to places I don't want to go.  Taking my eyes off of Him sends me in the complete opposite direction from Him.  

I always thought that when horses had blinders on their eyes it was such a cruel thing.  But I have to admit, there are days I wish I had a set.  Those blinders kind of act like a telescope for our spiritual eyes.  If we have blinders on, our eyes stay focused on what it ahead.  On our North Star - God.  If we are looking only through that telescope to where the north star is, our eyes stay focused on it.  It's when we look away, when we take those blinders off, that our focus is taken off of God.  And when our focus is off of God, it cannot be right.  We will loose our way.  We will loose our charted course.  We will never get to the destination we are striving for.

Join me won't you, as we strive to keep our focus on God - our North Star.  May the things of this earth not entice us - rather cause us to look to Him who gives us the direction and guidance we so desperately need!!! Let's keep our eyes focused on the light and direction our North Star - God - gives to us and follow HIS paths, not our own.

Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.

-Psalm 119:36-37