Encouragement
Northern Lights: God’s Light in Your Dark Night
Have you seen the news lately? No, I’m not talking about all the bad stuff that’s going on. I’m talking about the Northern Lights and the meteor showers. I’m talking about all this stuff that’s going on in the skies. It is amazing stuff. Oh, I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights. Although we’ve been to Alaska three times, we’ve always gone in July.
Wanna listen to the podcast?
Or maybe you want to watch the video?
Alaska doesn’t get much darkness in July
Northern Lights are best seen when the sky is really dark. So, we’ve never been able to see one. But lately I have been seeing all these amazing pictures of the Northern Lights. People are seeing them all the way down to even in Atlanta, Georgia. May 10th of this year, was probably one of the most amazing days of Aurora sightings that has been experienced probably in about 500 years.
You need to have a dark sky to see an Northern Lights,
but when an Northern Lights occurs, instead of seeing the dark sky, the sky is filled with columns of glorious light of greens and reds, and sometimes even blues. This magnificent light show moves and sways like a breeze gently moves curtains at the kitchen window.
Breath taking, jaw dropping light that bursts brightly and then dims and dances into shapes and designs that absolutely defy descriptions. Beauty so wonderful, that you gasp in awe, while stars twinkling like diamonds complete the scene. I only know this because I’ve watched them on videos and they’re unbelievable.
Solar Storms
Do you realize that Northern Lights are produced by storms? Actually, these storms are very violent solar storms. Storms that are produced by explosions from the sun.
These storms release massive bubbles of gas. And when those bubbles pop, it sends energized particles zooming through space towards us. Earth’s magnetic fields protect us from things like the solar winds of heat and light and other energized particles that travel through space. However, some of these particles manage to zip through the shield and into our atmosphere through the north and south poles.
When these energized particles bump into the oxygen and the hydrogen that is found in Earth’s atmosphere, they produce beautiful colors. If the charged storm particles bump into oxygen, they produce green and red light. If they bump into nitrogen, which is much rarer, they produce the blues and the purple light. These solar storms have increased lately. There have been many more Northern Lights, and they have been much stronger. So there have been more and more sightings.
May 10-11,2024 wowed millions around the globe.
These spectacular Northern Lights, considered the most activity in 500 years, came after a week of extreme solar storms.
Although Solar storms have increased lately,
they’re not the only storms that have increased. We are seeing storms all around us: Storms of a political nature. Financial storms. Interpersonal storms. Spiritual storms. Physical storms. Because of the rebellion against God that we’re experiencing in our society today, it’s opened the floodgates of hell.
And there’s such depression and demonic oppression all around us in our culture today. These storms have produced darkness, but in the midst of darkness, I want to remind you that you don’t have to be oppressed; that you don’t have to be depressed.
God’s Light in Your Darkness
Sometimes Jesus quiets your storm like He did on the Sea of Galilee. He said, “Peace, be still.”
Jesus is with you!
Then sometimes we just have to hunker down and go through the dark storm. In either case, He is with you!!! Even though it’s dark around you, you don’t have to have darkness in your soul, in fact Jesus is still the light of the world. The light of the world is with you!!!
I want to take you to Scripture
“For behold.
Darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples.
But
the Lord will rise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
God’s light in your darkness!
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God who said,
let light shine out of darkness,
made his light shine
in our hearts
to give us the light
of the knowledge
of the glory
of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
I want to look at that verse.
This is God that said, “Let there be light” in the beginning of the world. When there was great darkness, God said, “Let there be light,” and light shined out of that darkness.
He’s still the same God
that made his light shine in our hearts! Therefore, that light enables us to see the truth of God’s magnificence in the face of Jesus Christ. We’ve got to fix our face, our eyes on the face of Jesus.
What do we do in the darkness?
What do we do when the darkness is all around us?
Sorta like looking for an Northern Lights!
We do the same thing you do when you’re looking to see an Northern Lights. Obviously, you go to a place where it’s known for aurora sightings. When you get there, lift your eyes, lift your face and begin to look.
Regardless of whether or not you like to do it…there’s a 4-lettered word that follows.
Wait. Generally you might have to wait some more. But it’s worth the wait, because when you experience His glory, the light of His glorious presence, there’s just nothing…nothing like it!
Let me get practical with you!
Maybe you’re thinking what do we do and where do we find the light? We find the light in God’s word. So, we go to God’s Word there is where we seek and find God’s will. We must emphatically speak and declare the Bible has to say about our situation.
1. We pray. (That’s not the same thing as whining.) Take God’s promises and pray them.
2. Get in God’s presence. If you think the Northern Lights I’ve shown you are something, then I gotta tell you His Presence is even better!!!!!
How do we get in God’s presence?
Worship. Bow your heart before Him. Declare His goodness, His faithfulness as you humble your heart before Him. We worship Him because we know we can trust Him…even in the darkness…even in a storm.
3. Read your Bible. Find God’s promise for your situation. Fill your mind with what God has to say about your situation.
4. Stay in church. Ask prayer warriors to pray for you. Practice spiritual disciplines at a deeper level.
Please don’t misunderstand me.
I realize storms can hit us one after another, relentlessly. In fact, they can hit us so strongly that we feel like a little kid that’s waded too far in the ocean, that is knocked down by a big wave. They stagger, coughing, struggling, splashing and stumbling as they try to get back on their feet. Surprisingly, just about the time they get their feet under them, they get knocked down again.
Lots of us are going through that kind of storm!
…but God is faithful. That’s too important to only say once…God is faithful! God wants you to come to Him…like a child runs to their parent. He wants you to believe him and put your trust in him because he will not fail you.
- Stay steady.
- Keep believing God.
- Run to him.
- Keep your eyes on Jesus, dear friend.