Lights In The Sky

 One of the unique things about living in the Arctic is the opportunity one gets to see such natural phenomenons as the Northern Lights. The aurora display doesn't happen all the time up here, so it's a big deal when the solar activity causes them, and they are visible. Last week, they were out in force. Although most of the deep colors were seen farther North than where I live, I could still see this amazing wonder from my driveway…faint though it was. I've lived here in Alaska my whole life, but experiences like these never get old for me. My mom and I stood outside in the cold and stared up into the starry night as ribbons of green flashed across the dark sky. 


I thought of a moment similar to this that I experienced a number of years ago: I was a high school senior at the time and was driving North to Fairbanks with my family. It was about 12:30am, and the temperatures dipped well below zero. We stopped to make a quick change in drivers. At that time of night, there were hardly any cars on the road. We seemed to be all alone. At that moment, we looked up, and there were those beautiful flashes of color streaming past us. We stood next to the car and marveled. It still remains one of my most treasured memories of living here. Now, over eight years later, I was once again watching the Northern Lights put on a show. The words came to mind:

" When I consider your heavens, the work of your
fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have
set in place, what is man that you are mindful of
him, the son of man that you visit him?"
-Psalm 8:3-4

I stood and wondered at the fact that the God of the universe - the One who holds all of the galaxies in place, who guides the planets on their way, who is in control of everything and everyone on this earth - that same God cares about me! He knows my thoughts before I think them; He knows my words before I speak them; He even knows my heart and the secrets it often wants to hide. As vast and wide a sovereign reign as He has in the Universe, He still thinks of me! He loves me! I went to bed that night with a full heart. God doesn't have to take notice of me, and yet He does. He is so mighty that He can control the entire solar system, the entire universe - known and unknown - and still reach down to touch the human heart!! Incredible! Truly, "the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Ps. 19:1)." 


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