YAY! We finally had our first snow in 2021! I wish I could have seen it falling. Mom and I loved watching the snow falling and commenting on the size of the flakes. (Her mother always said that when the flakes grew large, the snow was almost over.) Nevertheless it has happened, and I am so very grateful for God’s attention when He shows off the earth He created!
The other part of snowfall which I long for and love is the quietness which accompanies it, especially in the late afternoon/evening when everyone is home from work/school. There is absolutely NO traffic anywhere; no kids are out playing and squealing; no animals or birds are making their own sounds; and you can see your own breath as you take a peek outside and breathe deeply the cool air. There is silence in the snow, and it is deafening!
One winter when I was working at Murdoch Developmental Center in Butner, NC, there was a report for several inches of snow. I packed my overnight bag so that I could help in the residential buildings if health care staff could not drive in. Once I was assigned to the Infirmary, and my main job was to take a gentleman outside to smoke his cigarettes. This was a BIG deal for him and something he had been accustomed to for probably 50 years. When we stepped outside the door all bundled up, I lit his cigarette, and then we just listened. Neither of us talked. It was so very quiet; no kids; no animals/birds; no vehicles on the road in front of our facility. Suddenly we both heard a branch crack from its tree trunk and land loudly on the ground. But that was all we heard. There is silence in the snow.
As I looked at the snow the 2nd evening I was there, I heard God say to me "the robe of righteousness, clean and white". "The robe of righteousness, clean and white". Just like the snow had covered the earth, God was telling me that I am covered in the robe of righteousness, clean and white.
Revelation 19:8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. (NLT)
God chose that moment in time, when all was quiet in the building and outside, to tell me this. He told me in the silence of the snow, and He used the snow to illustrate! But I love the fact that He shared with me during this silence in the snow. I felt such peace.
But what happens to the snow over the next few days? The snowplows come out in full force. The leaf blowers are blowing snow off of the sidewalks. The shovels are scraping against the sidewalks and parking lots. And the previous appearance begins to change from the beautiful white snow-covered landscape to piles of plowed up snow at the edge of the parking lot or on the sides of the sidewalks and the roads.
The exhaust of vehicles will dirty the snow that is piled in the parking lots. The dead grass will cling to the clumps of snow on the sides of the road. The tire tracks of vehicles will leave dirt where it once was white. What was once a beautiful white covering of snow has become dirty and dingy with the effects of this world.
Even now in the afternoon, the road is filled with town vehicles looking for pruned limbs and leaves to chop up; kids playing in our backyard; birds singing; and the snow on the grass almost finished melting. How time changes in just a short few hours.
But that is not what this is all about, right God? This message is about that sweet, calming, time of resting in You which becomes so comfortable and unhurried because the whole world around us has stopped. Has completely stopped (on the outside anyway).
God, thank you for pausing our earthly world, even for a few minutes or overnight, in the silence of the snow so that we can shout or whisper “thank you, God; thank you, God; thank you, God!” Thank you for ensuring that we stop at the right time to experience You and Your love and Your words. How I love your blessings!
Stay safe, and thanks for stopping by,
Rachel
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