It was near midnight in Jasper, Alberta, and the whole town seemed to be awake. Every staff member from the hotel, locals and guests alike, were outside because the sky was doing something remarkable.

I had hoped I might see the Northern Lights when I chose to spend a summer working in the Canadian Rockies. But I never imagined this.

It was a full-scale light show. We watched the lights dance from vibrant green to purple and blue and paint the whole sky. A local said he hadn’t seen anything like it in twenty years. (I even did a quick google search and found Facebook photos from the day—linked below).

After wandering with the crowd, I eventually found myself by the lake, sitting on a Muskoka chair. There were some others around but my attention was completely fixed on the sky.

The lights swerved and changed shape, and then rapidly, like silk unraveling, purple burst into vibrant pink and orange.

It was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen. My eyes quite literally could not handle it. I felt them well with tears. A response to…Too much beauty.

Awe and Reverence

I didn’t have language for it then, but I know now I was experiencing the awe of God.
It was pure reverence for creation.

It was what I believe is “the fear of God” the Bible so often talks about.

Not the afraid kind, where Adam runs away from God in the garden (that kind is always wrong, by the way). But the kind that confronts magnificence beyond comprehension and witnesses your smallness in comparison.

The kind where humility washes over you as you recognize how little you truly know, in the presence of something so much greater.

And yet…The same magnificence—that created the northern lights, the mountains, the stars, the lakes, the perfectly detailed shells—

Created me.

The Soul’s Longing

I didn’t know God then, how I do now. I may never have opened a Bible or really gone to church (more on that in this post).

But I knew reverence in that moment. I believe those tears were a soul response to my Maker even when I lacked the knowledge or understanding.

I believe every soul carries a yearning to worship the Creator, though our responses are all unique and different.

Many years later, I had a similar kind of awe in the days after giving birth to my son — moments where tears of stunned joy were my only way of speaking.

Finding Reverence in Him

That night in Jasper was nearly ten years ago. In the years between that night and today, my relationship with God has grown in ways I never expected.

And I’ve learned that reverence is accessible. Not just in a marvellous sky, but in stories. In Scripture. In a person.

In Jesus.

It’s not always an instant, tearful Northern Lights-style experience. But somewhere along the way, the Word does a work in you.

Information becomes knowledge.
Knowledge becomes revelation.
And revelation becomes reverence.

And that reverence can take place whether you are standing in one of the most beautiful places in the world or sitting quietly in your bedroom.

God Is Not Far

There is a beautiful line in Jeremiah:

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

He does not say:
“You will find me when you have the correct knowledge, information, and doctrine.”

No.

He says:
“When you seek me with all your heart.”

I believe God is constantly reaching toward people in ways they can understand. Even when someone uses words like “the universe” or “higher power,” sincere longing still matters to Him, even when expressed through limited language. He created your heart, after all. He knows it.

In Acts, Paul speaks to people who were spiritually searching without fully knowing God. He tells them that God is not far from any of us, and says:

“What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”

What does this tell us?

Knowing God matters. Knowing Christ brings clarity, truth, correction, and intimacy that vague spirituality cannot fully provide.

And at the same time, a person can experience reverence through creation long before they fully understand God or possess perfect doctrine. God meets the sincere seeker.

The Invitation

Sometimes reverence comes to us through sacred, unexpected moments.

Hold onto them.

They are rare.
They are gifts.

And maybe, they are also an invitation.

Invitations to pursue the One behind it all.
To keep seeking Him, even in ordinary moments when life feels routine and nothing particularly astonishing is happening.

Keep seeking.

To know the One behind those experiences that make you stop one day and quietly realize:

“Oh…
It was You all along.”

Because somehow, that relationship becomes the crown above everything else.

With love,
Natalie Grace

Mentioned links

Alberta May 2017 Northern Lights