(This year, we have not had much snow here, at least, and we have yet to light a fire in our stove, though it may be cold enough to do so soon. The photograph above is one I took of the woods behind our bus garage back in January 2019. If you zoom in on the right, you can see the buses parked in our lot!)
Good morning, Father! The fire is warm by my side, though I can hear the cold wind blowing outside. It is dark, but I know the beautiful snow continues to fall.
Prior to the last couple of days, Ohio has experienced a “brown” winter season -lots of rain, which equals lots of mud. Most trees are bare, so much of the scenery is a brownish grey. But today…when the sun comes up, our eyes will behold a new and fresh landscape! Ohioans will wake to a carpet of shimmering white – snow has come! And it is beautiful!
Many live in a perpetual “brown” winter – not so much in the world around them but from a spiritual perspective. Life has rained upon our parade. Life is dreary. There is nothing vibrant, just a world of browns and greys. And that’s the way it is day after day after day. Life is a muddy mess, and many are drowning in hopelessness.
Sin and all its repercussions overwhelm us. It is all that can be seen – seemingly a never-ending panorama of gloom… and doom. And that doom is all too real. Without someone intervening, it will lead to not just a temporary separation from God but an eternal one. In and of ourselves, there is no light at the end of the tunnel – this is no hope.
But praise be to God, we have Christ! When Christ comes into the picture, change, and with it – hope, arrives. He covers over the browns and greys – the sin in our lives – with the pure snow of His love and forgiveness. And as long as we remain in a relationship with Him, the beauty of His presence will remain in our lives.
Isaiah 1:18 reads,
“Come now let’s settle this, says the Lord,” Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow…” NLT
The beauty and purity of newly fallen snow becomes a reality in our “brown” world – thank You, Lord!
(Jan 12th, 2016, Tues, 5:52 am)
Dec 1st, 2024, Sun, 4:18 pm
