Hope itself is like a star- not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.

Spurgeon’s image treats hope as something real but often unnoticed when life is bright. In “sunshine of prosperity,” people tend to rely on visible resources—health, money, social standing—so hope recedes into the background. In “the night of adversity,” when ordinary supports fail, hope becomes newly perceptible and necessary, like a star that guides precisely because it shines against darkness. The comparison also implies that hope is not mere optimism; it is a steady, external point of orientation that can be “discovered” and followed when circumstances are most disorienting. The line fits Spurgeon’s broader Christian emphasis on faith’s consolations under trial.