In the Bleak Mid-Winter

After 24 hours of being confined to the house due to ice, snow and cold, we finally ventured out today into the beautiful snow. We were surprised when we woke up to find there was so much of it! Three or four inches, and then drifted much deeper in places. By then the sun was shining brightly, and even though it was still cold, a little melting was taking place. We enjoyed a ride into the country where farmsteads were nestled cozily in slopes and valleys, snugly blanketed in the snowy white stuff.

Not long ago, the schools were closed here for a "no-snow" day. It seems they had allowed for what they thought were too many snow days, so the kids got a vacation just to use up one of the days. I wonder if they second-guessed themselves today!

Snow days are mixed blessings, and we often fret at our routines being interrupted by inclement weather. But the Bible says in Job 37:6-7,"For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. (7) He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work."

In other words, when we have to stop our work or routines because of a snow day, we have the opportunity to consider God's work! To rest and stay inside and to contemplate, appreciate, and enjoy God's marvelous work and its mysterious beauty. What a treat for the eye and a renewal for the spirit to behold a changed landscape, pristine in its pureness, every imperfection and eyesore covered in a regal robe of white!

Verse 8 says, "Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places." Even the animals have to pause in their activity, whether wild animals hunting food or domestic animals taking shelter in warm, dry barns or stables.

We read in verse 13 the reasons for the rain, storms and snow. "He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy." We know the benefits of snow for the land as it acts as insulation and protection from freezing for the tender roots below. The moisture snow provides for crops is very beneficial since it melts slowly and almost all of it is absorbed, with very little evaporating in the cold temperatures.

How many times have people prayed and pleaded for merciful drops of rain during sustained droughts? And God is perfectly capable of using severe weather for correction of his people if He desires.

Probably those who enjoy snow most are the children. They revel in it, ignoring freezing hands and toes for the delight of tossing the novel stuff into the air, the fun of throwing snowballs, the challenge of building snowmen, the thrill of sledding, or the wonder of lying in it to make snow angels. Job 38:22 asks, "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" Obviously, the little snow angels have!