In the portion of “Same Kind of Different as Me” that I read last night, Denver was describing Miss Debbie as a shooting star. He talked about people who often burn brightly, but too suddenly disappear.

I smiled.

I have had a thing for stars for a long time.

Perhaps it stems from growing up in South Dakota, with its wide open skies, untainted by city lights, tall buildings, and pollutions. The stars in South Dakota somehow seem to shine more brightly, more frequently, and they seem to go on for ever.

Genesis 15:5 "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them."

I think it was during my first summer working at NeSoDak Bible Camp where my love for stars really hit me. Every week on the last night of camp, I took my cabin of girls out to the dock and we all laid on our backs and looked up at the stars, far too numerous to count. Inevitably, we would see falling stars, and we’d all gasp and point together. As we laid there on our backs in the beautiful summer night, I would share the following thoughts that I had gathered together about how stars are kind of like God.

Have you ever stopped to consider the stars? How often do you pause to look up?

Sometimes stars are burning so brightly, so brilliantly, that it almost seems like daylight. You stand in awe at their brilliance and gasp at their beauty.

Sometimes stars are hidden by clouds or bad weather.

Sometimes the tall city buildings and bright city lights overpower the stars – or seem to from our limited view from down here.

And sometimes we just plain forget to look up.

Did you notice that God is kind of like that?

Sometimes our walk with Him is so close, so intense, that the brightness is overwhelming. We see Him clearly. The vastness of His world is crisp and clear before you. You feel as if you could reach out and touch Him, and that you’re a part of His massive plan.

Sometimes we go through troubling times where clouds and storms are in abundance. It feels as if He’s left you. There’s little, if any, light shining through.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our life, and the glitz and glamour that it might offer. We’re enticed by “the shiny things” that fame and fortune and success might offer. We’re unable to see God, because we’re enamored by things of this world.

And sometimes we’re so caught up in living our little ol’ life that we simply forget to look Up and acknowledge why our life is so blessed in the first place.

Yet despite our attitudes, despite our situation, despite our attention or faithlessness – God, like the stars, is always there. He’s always shining brightly waiting for us to look up. He’s shining faithfully despite the clouds or bright lights that threaten to block Him from our view.

He’s always there.

We just need to look Up.