Every time it snows I think about Job. Not getting the connection? Allow me to explain.
Job is one of my favorite books in the Bible. I feel a kind of kinship with him. Not that I've faced anything close to the hardships he suffered, but his story is a real eye-opener to God's glory and majesty, as well as His power and love. You should read it. Right now, even.
The book of Job contains some of the most wonderful descriptions of God in the whole Bible. Here's the one that I think of when it snows:
Keep listening to the thunder of His voice
And the rumbling that comes from His mouth.
Under the whole heaven He lets it go,
And His lightning to the corners of the earth.
After it His voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice,
And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.
God thunders wondrously with His voice;
He does great things that we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow He says, "Fall on the earth,"
Likewise to the downpour, His mighty downpour. -Job 37:2-6
I have a different perspective on the snow than most of you. While you sit in your cozy, warm offices and living rooms and watch the snow fall and pile up on tree limbs and rooftops, I'm all bundled up, watching it spot up my safety glasses, melt through my coat, and wiping snot off my nose with a cold, wet glove. And I LOVE it. There is one thing about a snowfall that really does it for me...the silence.
Snow has a way of dampening sound. First of all, the traffic is much lighter so there is less car noise. But everything is just quieter. Voices don't carry as far, objects hit the ground with a dull thud, and footsteps are almost undetectable.
Today I was working on a pole during the heaviest snowfall of the day. I could barely see the phone cable in front of me. The wind was blowing, and stinging, and my fingertips were numb, but not numb enough to kill the pain. But it was completely silent. All I could hear was my own breathing, and sometimes singing, and the faint sound of the truck running thirty feet below me. It was just me and all I could think of was this passage from Job.
Job isn't the one speaking here. It's his "friend" Elihu who has come to console Job in his misfortune. It's more of a brow-beating than a consolation but here he is just proclaiming the majesty of God. He asks Job to consider God's majesty in relation to the complaint Job has with God. In the next chapter, God answers Job by questioning if he can explain creation and it's wonders. That pretty much shuts up Job and his complaining.
Of course, God shows His love by restoring Job and everything he lost. But our gracious God doubles everything Job lost, including the years of his life. How blessed we are to be loved by such a love.
So, I guess that's my point. Even a simple snowfall can lead one to regard God's love. Creation itself is an expression of His love.
When I got home late last night, The Princess Bride was on television. The perfect ending to the day.
Have fun storming the castle!
