Shine like the Stars

Exactly a week ago on Wednesday, I was lucky enough to go to a planetarium here on the UCLA campus. I was excited out of mind! Ever since I was a boy, it was something that caught my eyes. There were only a few stars to be seen in the Sin-City lights of Las Vegas where I grew up, but still you could always see some and that's what you could always count on.
At the planetarium, as we sat down in the dome shaped room with the dome shaped ceiling, the lights darkened as "the sun went down." We were shown the star-view of the Los Angeles night sky. I sat there in awe thinking, Beautiful!
Then the observatory lights slowly got darker and darker and more and more stars started to be revealed - a massive amount of them! Stars that I have never ever seen in real life appeared abundantly. Stars that I had seen were brighter than ever and some were twinkling like diamonds in the dark sky. Majestic! This is way crazier than the Los Angeles star sky I saw just moments ago!
How could I not give glory to God in this planetarium?! After seeing the amazing stars, how could I not give praise? The stars resonated with God's glory and it could not be hidden. And you know what's crazier?! It got more and more majestic as it got darker and darker and darker. At its darkest, it was the most gloriest.
"At the darkest of nights the stars shine brightest."

Christian, are you going through a tough time? Finals? Midterms (for all y'all UCLA folks)? Financial issues? Family? Relationships? Is your schedule so packed that you lose much sleep? Are you being persecuted for your faith? Injured? Depressed? Struggling with sin?
I could go on and on, and so could you. Life is tough and that's no lie. But I just wanted to say - Keep On Fighting. Don't Give Up. There is purpose in all things, even sufferings. Suffering WILL come. But be strong - when you're going through the toughest darkest of times, your life will glorify God and shine His light all the more. Like the stars shine brighter and brighter as it gets darker and darker, so your life will shine Christ brighter as you stick firm in your faith trusting in Him completely through your darkest times.
Are you ready, Christian? Get back up - now is the time to lead, to rejoice, to glorify. Now is the time to be such as the stars that so clearly shine and twinkle when nothing but blackness surrounds it. Get up. Christ is your Lord and He gives strength to the weary.