Shining Like Stars

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” Philippians 2:12-18

I remember a summer night last year when our family was away for the weekend. We were in a secluded setting, with very little light from the surrounding community. It was a beautiful starry night. We were amazed at the amount of stars that we could see that evening. Where we live there is a lot of light pollution, so we are unable to see all the stars. Even though we can’t see them, they still are present in the sky.

The stars shone exceptionally bright that evening, or at least it seemed so to us as we lay on a blanket observing them. We had the privilege of viewing several shooting stars as well. It was a night that I still remember.

The portion of scripture written above is subtitled in my Bible as, “Shining as Stars.” It tells us how we can be set apart and different from the world around us. One of the first things that I noticed as I read it was obedience. The believers were being praised for their following what was commanded, whether or not someone was watching them or not.

They were encouraged not to complain, argue or grumble. Sometimes it is so easy to fall into this trap. We say, “I’m tired,” “I wish so and so didn’t do such and such,” “I wish it would stop raining,” etc. Our list of complaints is often endless. This is something we often hear in our everyday lives.

If we are different from the world, as believers, then we should be the ones who are being grateful, encouraging and making a point to get along with others. When we choose to do this, we too can “shine like stars in the universe.” This theme has been on my heart recently. It is an area where I am trying to improve and be different. Have I succeeded? No, I’m still far from that example. But I can’t help but remember that even a very dim light can be seen from far away. So in the process of learning to be that bright star, I pray that God uses me, even when I am just a dim light. I desire to learn and grow to be the bright light that He desires for me to be!