It’s wonderful how God uses visual illustrations to remind us of who he is. This week we got several inches of snow. Well, it’s February and it’s Wisconsin, so that’s not unusual. What was odd, I thought, was how the snow coated the trees and then stayed on for a couple of days. Usually the coating only lasts a little while before it melts or the wind blows it off. This time, it just hung on and on, beautifying the skeletal winter tree branches and delighting my heart.
The effect was stunning, especially when contrasted with the inevitable nastiness that follows snowfall in the city. Within a few hours, the streets became lined with piles of ugly dirty snow. Slushy mud puddles multiplied. The pure whiteness was gone.
Until I looked up. And there was that unspoiled snow, clinging to the tree branches and causing me to rejoice in its Creator.
As I drove or took walks during those days, I thought about the lesson so clearly laid out in front of me. Down here on earth, it’s dirty. We are people spoiled by sin. Our daily circumstances can be very hard. It’s easy to get discouraged and lose hope as we look at the problems around us and in us.
But when we look up and gaze upon our unspoiled Savior, resting in his beauty, love, and goodness in the midst of the slushy puddles of earth, oh, how our hearts will rejoice.
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
-H.H. Lemmel
Made for Eternity 