As I write this post, outside my window is a porch covered by at least five inches of snow (picture here). We have had several snows in my time in Tennessee; but this may be the most beautiful of all. Perhaps that is because it is a dry snow, almost powdery, and also that there is so much of it. Everything outside is gorgeously white. Everywhere one looks, the splendor of God’s creation is on display.
When I was growing up back in Georgia, we got precious few snows. More often, we got ice storms instead. As I recall, the most severe was in 1973, when I was a little boy. I can still vividly recall the loud cracks all throughout the day and night as limb after limb of pine trees snapped like riflefire under the weight of the accumulated ice.
One year, however, we did get a particularly severe snow. In January of 1982, all of Atlanta was paralyzed by a very rare snowstorm. Perhaps blizzard would be the better word. As I recall, snow piled up six to eight inches deep in places. That weekend, I was one of a handful of people who made it to church (mostly because we lived a very short distance from the church’s location). To this day, I still remember the major points of the devotion that my pastor, Dr. Ike Reighard, delivered that Sunday morning (albeit to a rather slim crowd) at New Hope Baptist Church in rural Fayette County, Georgia.
He began by referencing the fact that, perhaps surprisingly, snow is mentioned twenty-five times in the Bible. His chosen text was Job 38:22. Then, he shared the following four points.
1. Snow covers everything. Outside, even the ugliest of messes has (at least temporarily) been covered over by snow and made beautiful. In Isaiah 1:18, God says He will take our sins, as dark as scarlet, and make them white as snow. The Bible has many examples of people who were gloriously saved from sin.
2. Snow, though frozen, is actually just recycled water (Ecclesiastes 1:7). God, of course, can recycle any person and give them new life. Then, He can use them over and over again for His purposes. One such example is the Apostle Paul. God changed him from one who persecuted Christians into arguably the greatest missionary who ever lived.
3. Each and every snowflake is unique. Even if there are trillions of snowflakes lying outside, scientists tell us that no two are ever exactly the same. The same is true for people. God, in His glorious creativity, has made each of us unique. Jeremiah speaks of having been uniquely made by God while in his mother’s womb. God then uses our uniqueness for His glory as we each find our respective roll to play and/or ministry to fulfill.
4. One snowflake alone cannot accomplish much. However, let snowflakes come together and begin to amass their numbers and they can have tremendous effect. The quote he used was this: “As the snow multiplies, so does its might.” The same is true for Christians. There is always strength in numbers. When we work together, when we pool our respective talents and resources for the Lord, we can accomplish so much more for Him than we can acting alone.
Almost thirty years after Dr. Reighard shared this simple little devotion, I still remember the impact his thoughts had on me as a young man in training for the pastoral ministry. I share them with you here in the hopes that they will have a similar impact on you this cold winter day.
When I was growing up back in Georgia, we got precious few snows. More often, we got ice storms instead. As I recall, the most severe was in 1973, when I was a little boy. I can still vividly recall the loud cracks all throughout the day and night as limb after limb of pine trees snapped like riflefire under the weight of the accumulated ice.
One year, however, we did get a particularly severe snow. In January of 1982, all of Atlanta was paralyzed by a very rare snowstorm. Perhaps blizzard would be the better word. As I recall, snow piled up six to eight inches deep in places. That weekend, I was one of a handful of people who made it to church (mostly because we lived a very short distance from the church’s location). To this day, I still remember the major points of the devotion that my pastor, Dr. Ike Reighard, delivered that Sunday morning (albeit to a rather slim crowd) at New Hope Baptist Church in rural Fayette County, Georgia.
He began by referencing the fact that, perhaps surprisingly, snow is mentioned twenty-five times in the Bible. His chosen text was Job 38:22. Then, he shared the following four points.
1. Snow covers everything. Outside, even the ugliest of messes has (at least temporarily) been covered over by snow and made beautiful. In Isaiah 1:18, God says He will take our sins, as dark as scarlet, and make them white as snow. The Bible has many examples of people who were gloriously saved from sin.
2. Snow, though frozen, is actually just recycled water (Ecclesiastes 1:7). God, of course, can recycle any person and give them new life. Then, He can use them over and over again for His purposes. One such example is the Apostle Paul. God changed him from one who persecuted Christians into arguably the greatest missionary who ever lived.
3. Each and every snowflake is unique. Even if there are trillions of snowflakes lying outside, scientists tell us that no two are ever exactly the same. The same is true for people. God, in His glorious creativity, has made each of us unique. Jeremiah speaks of having been uniquely made by God while in his mother’s womb. God then uses our uniqueness for His glory as we each find our respective roll to play and/or ministry to fulfill.
4. One snowflake alone cannot accomplish much. However, let snowflakes come together and begin to amass their numbers and they can have tremendous effect. The quote he used was this: “As the snow multiplies, so does its might.” The same is true for Christians. There is always strength in numbers. When we work together, when we pool our respective talents and resources for the Lord, we can accomplish so much more for Him than we can acting alone.
Almost thirty years after Dr. Reighard shared this simple little devotion, I still remember the impact his thoughts had on me as a young man in training for the pastoral ministry. I share them with you here in the hopes that they will have a similar impact on you this cold winter day.