You’ve probably had moments when you’ve experienced it.
Maybe even said it.
But curiously the origin of the phrase “When the stars line up” is nowhere to be found.
(At least not on Google.)

When the stars line up” is a phrase we use when everything seems to be pointing to a certain outcome.
The stars line up for a job change.
The stars line up for a win.
The stars line up for a child to be grounded in your home.
And (as last weeks blog pointed out), the stars lined up for me to have foot surgery this week.
(details here: https://laurieshort.com/the-news-you-dont-want-to-hear/)

We use this phrase when everything seems to be moving in a certain direction to lead us where we are supposed to go.

It happened most famously over 2,000 years ago, for three Magi who saw the sky pointing to a newborn king.
kings following star
Who, by the time they got there, was just under two.

I know our Nativity scenes sometimes include these Magi with the shepherds and angels.
But the truth is, they came later on the scene.

They were the unfortunate trigger for Herod’s “Massacre of the innocents” (Matthew 2:16-18), because their visit signaled a threat to his power had been born.
But God protected that baby King.

No one could take his life.
Until it was time for Him to give it.
And the stars lined up for Him to be willingly led to the cross.

So what is our response when the stars line up for us?
Sometimes we push against the stars when they are taking us where we do not want to go.
Sometimes we turn our eyes from the stars when they are showing us something we don’t want to see.
But what’s most puzzling during this season is that with so many songs and Christmas decorations pointing to the stars, how many people stop short of seeing what’s behind them.

The One who put the stars there.

He may be more understated than Santa and Rudolph and Frosty and the Grinch.
Santa and Rudolphfrosty 2the grinch
But His birth is responsible for their presence.
And without Him, they would cease to exist.

So would we.