Five Reflections on Snow

Since November of last year, Michigan has been experiencing snow. In fact in the area where I live we have already reached our average season snowfall of about 70 inches. I have been in Michigan now for eight years and I can say that this year’s winter is definitely the worst one. And, winter is not yet over; more snow is predicted to come. Consequently, many feel tired of the snow. Many (including myself) cannot wait for the spring. But, before the snow melts, let me share some of my reflections on snow.

1. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to live in a place where it snows. Recently, when I was in the Philippines and Australia, I met people who have never seen snow in their lifetime, and who want to witness a snowfall. Of course there are countless of other peoples around the globe who would love to see snow too. Thus, if you live in an area where it snows, thank the Lord for that privilege.

2. Having seen snow with my own eyes, Bible verses that speak of snow become more meaningful to me. For instance, now I can better understand the point that God makes in Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Imagine God’s willingness to forgive those who repent of their sins.

3. Snow can serve as a reminder to me of how God has forgiven me in Christ, making me even “whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7). As you look around at all the snow, think of how God has cleansed you from all your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. As the hymn writer Ro­bert Low­ry (1826-1899) remarks in his well-known hymn “Nothing but the Blood”:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

4. As a hymn lover, snow reminds me of some of the hymns that mention snow. Then as I recall these hymns, I sometimes sing them silently in my heart. Snow therefore is used by God for my spiritual growth. Right now the song that comes into my mind is this—“There Is Power in the Blood” by Lewis E. Jones (1865-1936):

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Think of how you can use the presence of snow for the benefit of your soul.

5. I understand we have had a lot of snow, and we can either have a murmuring, or thankful heart towards this very cold winter. Someone told a story about a certain minister who “was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, ‘Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank God on a wretched day like this.’ Much to his surprise, however, [the minister] began by praying, ‘We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.’”

Since I came to Michigan, I have had eight winters. And as I have already noted earlier, this year’s winter is the worst one. But learning from this preacher I can still thank God and say, “Lord, I thank you that Michigan winters are not always like this one.” How is our attitude towards the weather? When it is cold we complain, when it is hot we do the same. May we learn to say with Paul, “[G]ive thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:17).