Well, it’s another Sunday morning. “He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” Job 37:6 (NIV)
I pray you have had a wonderful week and are staying warm. This cold snap and the little bit of snow we got makes me realize we are in the middle of winter. I was thinking just how much I don’t like all this cold wind and ice on the lake we live by. While warming myself by the fire, a memory of my youth came to me, and I just smiled to myself. I thought about just how much age has changed my opinion of this cold season. I remember when I was young winter was fun, sledding, snow ice cream, building a snowman, or an icicles hanging down off things close enough to be within the reach of a young boy to break off and taste. Back when we were young even the smallest hill seemed huge and deserved a test to see if it hid any down hill speed with it’s snowy blanket. We would laugh at a friend slipping and falling in the snow or we would spend time building our snow shelter for an onslaught of snowballs during the neighborhood snowball fight. Just the idea of snow when we were young would bring the same questions, are we going to have a snow day from school or I wonder how many inches we would get.
Now when we hear it’s going to snow we think about how we will need to shovel out the cars, or dig a path so we can get to the driveway, or do we have enough stuff in the house to eat so we don’t have to get out in this mess at all. We think about how the cold is affecting our bones and then we get all these images of the cold and bleak days that are ahead of us. In Job 37:9-10 it is described like this; “From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.” I am freezing just writing that. But, don’t let it get to you. There is light at the end of our tunnel.
See, winter is just preparing us for the one of the new things that happen in some of God’s creation. One of my favorite verses that describes this is in Song of Solomon 2:11-12, it says this about the new comings, “For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” When I read this verse I see images of a warm late spring evening just at dusk with the crickets chirping and the birds talking to each other.
We all have our winters and summers in our lives with our emotions. We have our ups and downs, our cold and warms. I think as I get older I bear the cold, but I welcome the warm. I look for the things God puts along my path that are good and pleasing to me, these are my warm things. By my Faith they brighten my way and their light is so inviting. I try not to dwell to long on the things that bother me, the cold things. I visit them just long enough to address what they are then move on. I know our great LORD and Savior will see me past these disruptions and the things I am supposed to bring with me from them he will make clear to me.
I believe that it is by the Grace of God that we are allowed this life walk we are on, it’s not by our own doings. Ephesians 2:8-9 says this, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” I really don’t like winter that much anymore, but I love what is on the other side of it. I don’t like the bad things that fall in my path, but I love what waits on the other side of them. Does that make sense to you?
See, We look for the good in all things, sometimes we are let down. We must learn to deal with the let downs quickly and move on, whats on the other side will make up for all of it. One of my favorite bible verses is 2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV): “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Try to do this very thing and your walk will always be a relaxing stroll. Always remember this, God truly loves each and every one of you and so do I.
