As I write, pellets of sleet are tapping on the window in front of
me. And I wonder: is ice accumulating on those oak branches
hanging high above the power lines out back?
Is our house about to go dark—again?
This has become the “winter of our discontent” (that may have been
Shakespeare’s line, but it has found new meaning in 2014): freezing rain, sticky snow, tree limbs
crashing down, raging icicles, plus some nasty cold temperatures. And yet, of the many ways to describe this
winter’s weather (such as horrendous, unprecedented, relentless, stunning…),
I’d like to suggest a different term: meaningful. Packed with significance. The convulsions of nature are one way God
speaks. So just what is he saying
through the wild winter weather?
God exhibits his raw power through Nor’easter and Polar Vortex
systems that bring our routines grinding to a halt. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder that he’s
charge and we’re not. Are you at peace
with that? Or do you get all bent out of
shape when conditions don’t toe the line for your “well-laid plans”?
Remember, Psalm 19:1 is true all the time, not just with pretty
sunsets: “The heavens declare the glory
of God.” The Lord’s creative power and
sovereign majesty are on display this winter:
do you have eyes to see? Praise the Lord, fire and hail and snow and
frost! (Ps 148:8).
God is always at work for the good of his people (Rom 8:28), so
let’s be on the lookout for the good in having our agenda squashed. Maybe we need to be disrupted. Disruption gives us a chance to live by faith—to
trust the Lord with down time, loss, discomfort, even pain. Don’t forget: the Father “disciplines those
he loves” (Heb 12:6).
James 4:13-16 confronts our vain self-assurance: “Of course we’ll go here and there and do
this and that tomorrow and the next day!”
Winter Storm Pax reminds us that tomorrow is God’s domain. The One who runs the universe also holds our
future in his hand. Are you content with
that, even amidst the storm?
One more thought: could it
be that God gives us this mild misery to awaken us from our self-sovereignty
stupor so we’d see a world in need—people facing affliction far worse than our blizzard?
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