Christmas in Lapland!

Fog in Skopje

       After two summers in a row coming to beautiful and all around the clock sunny Lapland it was inevitable to come and experience the other side of Lapland, winter and darkness :) It wasn’t something that I was very excited about but after our family in Finland so gracefully paid for our trip I was left with no excuses and no choice.

       For few days our trip to Finland was clouded by very tick Macedonian fog which left the Macedonian airport in complete lock down, no flights in, no flights out. But on the day of our flight the weather cleared just enough that we could fly out. 

       After a night in Stockholm we continued early next morning up north to our final destination Kemi, Finland. On our landing the captain informed us that there is “light snow on the ground and the temperature is 5 Celsius” followed by slight correction from his side, “that is -5 Celsius”. Finally we were in a familiar place, roads, nature, surroundings...but nothing could have prepared me for my first wintery morning covered with darkness...

On our way up North

Normal morning and afternoon view

Frozen Sea

       I woke up around 7am, looked through the window and it was pitch black more like 3am not 7am. By 8am I already had my cup of turkish coffee and found myself sitting next to the heater looking through the window. The snow on the ground was reflecting the street lights but it still looked as dark as one hour before. It was already 9am and my mind was getting confused. My mind was telling me; it’s 9am and it should be bursting with light more and more but all that my eyes were seeing was still darkness all around. Thousands of thoughts started racing through my mind. How is it possible the beautiful and 24/7 sunny Lapland as I know it to be so dark, such a shame I thought to myself. But then in a split second I realized that the darkness does not take away the beauty of Lapland, it doesn’t make it awful place to live but quite opposite it beautifies this place, it shows its true colors and it reveals the awesomeness of this place.

My thoughts switched towards God and few verses that always make me to stop, think and wonder: 

“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; 

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” Psalm 97:2

“He made darkness His secret place; 

His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies”.  Psalm 18:11

       How is it that God of light as we know Him is described as God with darkness all around Him, how can a darkness be His secret place? Doesn’t Paul say to Timothy that God dwells in unapproachable light and Daniel says that light dwells in Him...In that moment I realized that darkness serves the purpose to magnify and exalt the true character of God, His purity and His holiness. God choses to surround Himself with darkness, to hide Himself so to say in order for us to pursue Him, to search Him, to find Him and by doing so to allow God to reveal to our hearts the deep and mysterious things that lie hidden in darkness.

   

       What about you and me? Is there darkness in your heart? Is there darkness in your soul in your body? Is there darkness in the way you think and speak? Is there darkness in the things you do and the things that you don’t do? Is there darkness all around you? 

The good news is that these places of darkness can not swallow you, can not overcome you, these places of darkness in your life only reveal the power of God's light. Darkness has nothing on you just as Paul said that where sin abounds God’s grace is being poured out even more. Darkness is instrument in God’s hand that reveals His love and desire for each one of us...revealing His grace, mercy, compassion, forgiveness....

       Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we are to use God’s highly paid grace in a cheap way to say all is forgiven and you don’t have to worry about it, NO! Quite the opposite this is a call and a cry of God’s heart to draw close to Him, to search Him, to find Him, so that His light will overcome the darkness in your life, it is a call and a cry for repentance and new commitment, renewing the vows unto the Lord, it is a cry for a life set apart unto holiness.

       And finally as we are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ I am being reminded that JESUS is the everlasting light. I’m being reminded that JESUS' face is shining brighter then the sun. I’m being reminded that JESUS the light of the world came into the world of darkness, came into the world that has been and still is clouded and fogged by the way of human reasoning, human wisdom, human philosophy, selfishness and pride....JESUS the light came down and surrounded Himself with darkness even though there was no darkness in Him and JESUS' light shined forth in love and kindness, in forgiveness and healing, in restoration and acceptance...and the darkness couldn’t overcome it. 

       This is the cry of my heart, this is my prayer for you that no matter where you are in your life, no matter where you are in your walk with God, or walking away from God, no matter if you are walking and living in darkness, I pray that in this special season:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”   

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR