Snow day. As a child, there were no two better words that someone could speak. I am sitting at my kitchen table, enjoying a cup of coffee looking at all the white stuff on the ground. School has been cancelled in our city and I just finished going through the corresponding things that need to be cancelled or moved in church life. And with that, I should be back in bed… sleeping in. That is the route the kids and my wife have chosen.
But for me, snow days are exciting. I remember as a child staying up late or waking up dreadfully early to see if school had been cancelled. Before the internet and the smart phone, one had to turn on the local news to see if their school had been called off. The long banner across the bottom listing all the schools, day cares and churches that were not open today. It is an impromptu holiday. It was a little crazy to lose sleep just find out that school was cancelled… so you could then just go back to sleep
Even as I write this, it is hard to focus, my eyes keep getting pulled to the window. There is just nothing like snow outside. I don’t want to see it when I am driving but looking at it in my yard is something else entirely. Covering the tree branches and rooftops like frosting on a cinnamon roll.
The Bible does not mention snow too often. When we think of the Holy Land, at least for me, the image of a dry, hot Mediterranean dessert seems to always be the backdrop. But it does snow in Israel, mainly in certain parts of the country. Nothing like Ohio. It is more like the random times it hits states like Georgia.
The times where snow is mentioned in the Bible there are powerful ideas that surround it.
1. ON A SNOW DAY, WE ARE REMINDED THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL
In the book of Job, the author uses the idea of snow to communicate God’s power and wonder. In chapter 37, Job was encouraged to, “stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God” (v. 14). Snow days make us pause. Our routines are disrupted and often we are graced with a “free day.” Today, stop and reflect on what God might want to teach me in the snowfall.
Verses 6-7 reveal, “He directs the snow to fall on the earth…. Everyone stops working at such a time so they can recognize his power.” NLT. Our God is in control of the weather and our jobs and our lives.
The next chapter in Job picks up on this idea. Job has spent much of the book debating the problem of evil and why bad things happen to us. God eventually shows up to answer Job’s questions. The chapter paints the picture of God’s heavenly barns of snow.
Job 38:22 asks, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,” The suggestion to Job, the suggestion to each of us is that whatever we are worried about today, none of it, including the snow happens without it being in God’s control.
2. ON A SNOW DAY, KNOW THAT YOU ARE FORGIVEN
What happens when we are forgiven? We are cleansed…white as snow. Everything is covered over with a blanket of God’s grace.
Isaiah 1:18 ESV says, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Psalm 51:7 reads, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
When I see the snow, everything looks clean, quiet, and calm. Soon enough the neighborhood will erupt with snow blowers and plow trucks. For just a moment, think about everything you have done. Everything recently. Everything period. All of it being covered and cleansed. Like snow covering the hillside.
3. ON A SNOW DAY, THINK OF SEEING JESUS.
Think about seeing Jesus or meeting Jesus at the end of our earthly lives. For some, this might not sound exciting, but for the believer, for the follower this is the day we all look forward to. Often the depiction of the return of Christ is coupled with snow. Like a child wants a snow day when they are little, I want to see Christ. It will be the greatest snow day of all.
· His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.” Matthew 28:3.
· “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.” Daniel 7:9.
· “The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,” Revelation 1:14.
One day we will have a Snow Day like no other. It will disrupt us and be beautiful all at once. If you long for the beauty of a snow day like I do, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Prayer: Oh Lord, we thank you for the snow today. You are in control over all your creation, over me, over your church, over every little thing that will happen in my day today and over everything in your world. Everything that happens today and everything that was cancelled is in you control. You, Lord, balance the storehouses of snow with wonderful perfection and skill. We stand in awe. Help me to continue to recognize you in your creation and as you work in my life today. Thank you for the forgiveness you granted me and the way it cleaned my life. We live in today but we long to see you as well.