The Night Will Shine Like The Day

As the teaching portion of my job winds down during finals week, the missions portion is gearing up for a summer full of trips. This summer, our school has trips headed out to Uganda and Alaska and I am blessed be one of the leaders for the Alaska trip working with Alaska Mission for Christ. While this isn’t an international trip, there are definitely still many differences between Alaska and Southern California - both culturally and geographically.

One of the most striking differences is the length of the day during an Alaskan summer. While days usually do get longer here at home, the northern latitude of Alaska really magnifies this phenomenon. In June and July, there are even days when there is no night in the town of Nenana where we serve, only a few short hours of twilight from midnight to 4:00 AM.

This made Psalm 139 a natural choice for our theme verse this year - especially verses 11-12:

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

In Alaska, the night truly does shine like the day! At first glance, these verses could seem intimidating and even frightening. There is nowhere we can hide from God! And this would be a scary thought if it were not for the fact that God loves us so much. David speaks of this assurance in the previous verses (9-10):

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

No matter how much we try to hide from God - no matter how unworthy, guilty, or ashamed we feel - God’s grace always illuminates those dark places in our lives. What a great encouragement that is! Even if we try to hide from Him, He continues to pursue us, not to condemn us, but to rescue us. He seeks after us because he loves us and wants us to be in His presence.

Wherever your summer journeys take you, rest assured that God goes with you! I know I will be rejoicing in that fact enjoying the 11:00 PM sunshine in Alaska.

Wes Gong, Crean Lutheran High School, Irvine, CA