Shine Like Stars
Posted by Erin Roberson, September 20
When I was a little girl, I grew up in the country. There were no big buildings or city lights anywhere. My house sat back in a Kentucky “holler,” so even lights from our neighbors were at least a football field distance away.
At night, I loved to lie in the grass and look at the night sky. I could see the stars and planets so clearly, because the area around me was dark.
As an adult, I still enjoy looking at the sky. I even have an app that identifies the objects I am seeing. I just point my phone at the object in the sky, and the app tells me that I am seeing a planet like Venus or Jupiter, or a far away star. The app even outlines the constellations!
I think Paul enjoyed looking at the night sky, too. He used it as an example in Philippians 2:14-15, when he instructed believers to “do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life (emphasis mine).”
As believers, we are called to shine like stars. You know what’s interesting about stars? Stars are always there, but we don’t notice them in the daytime. It’s only in the darkness that we see them. Sometimes it feels like we are living in dark times. This is our opportunity to shine the brightest!
Think about people in the Bible who shined in a dark time. What about Daniel? His people were taken into captivity, but Daniel was respectful to his captors, and he remained close to God during this very dark time in his life. Because of Daniel’s example, the king saw that Daniel’s God was the true God.
Daniel described the end times in Daniel 12:3, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever (emphasis mine).”
And then there was Esther. She was raised by her uncle and chosen to be the queen. When her people, the Jews, were in danger of being murdered by one of the king’s advisors, Esther’s uncle said to her, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)?” Esther risked her own life and saved her people! She was a shining star in a very dark time!
Jesus is the ultimate light in the darkness.
He is the “light of the world (John 8:12).” No matter how much the darkness tries to extinguish the light of Jesus, it cannot. Ever! Others don’t understand it. The Roman rulers didn’t get it, and neither did the Jewish religious leaders.
Jesus is the true light, but there are many verses in the Bible letting us know that Jesus wants us to shine like stars in the darkness, too. Acts 13:47-48 reads, “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” That command was true for the early believers, and it is still true for us today.
So, how can you and I shine the light of Jesus like stars in a dark night sky?
First, we must stay very close to God. We do this through prayer and scripture reading. I love the idea of using notecards to write down scripture and carry it with you. You can easily immerse yourself in the word of God any time you find yourself with a few extra minutes (standing in line, waiting at an appointment, etc.)
Staying close to God will allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and produce fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). We must be willing to be used in any way God sees fit as He shines through us in this dark time. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says light exposes the dark. By shining the light of Jesus, we can dispel the darkness around us.
As believers who want to spread the light of Jesus, we can look for opportunities to show love to everyone, other believers as well as non-believers. I challenge each of us, as we go about our daily lives, to be in constant communication with God, looking for opportunities to let His light shine through us! Who knows the impact our obedience will have on others?
Erin Roberson is a wife and mother of two wonderful grown boys. She is a lifelong educator who loves learning and teaching others. She believes our primary focus should be on our relationship with God, learning who God is, who God says we are, and how God wants us to live.