Snow Days

Here in the Pacific Northwest of America, we are quickly approaching the winter season. The days are dark, it rains all day long, and nights are very cold. Soon it will begin to freeze and we face both snow and ice.

Have you ever wondered why it snows? We know the scientific reason, but why did God create snow in the first place? What is His purpose in snow?

Let me suggest that God’s design for a world where it snows is three-fold.

First, snow reminds us that God is sovereign over His creation. Colossians 1:16-17 says that Jesus is the Creator of all things and that He holds all things together. Psalm 147 adds that even the snow, frost, hail, wind, and rain exist and work only as He designed.

Second, God is powerful. People from other parts of the country sometimes joke: “You Oregonians are such wimps. A light dusting of snow shuts everything down.” Well, no matter who we are or where we live, we may lay the best of plans but God can end them all. It may just be a dusting of snow, but God knows how to frustrate the plans of man.

He is the One who causes the snow to fall, and it is done in such a way that is easy (or providential) for Him while crippling man’s best efforts (Job 37:26). With one storm, wars have been won and lost, crops are destroyed, and the works of man’s hands become futile (Job 38:22).

Third, snow is the symbol God gave in nature for purity (Psalm 51:5; Lamentations 4:7; Daniel 7:9; Matthew 17:2, 28:3; Mark 9:3, Revelation 1:14). One day the ground is dirty brown, grassy green or concrete grey, then the next day dawns with everything white as snow.

When someone is made pure, the power for that purity is both external and transformative (Is 55:10). It comes from God, covers the heart, changes your life. God is pure and all purity must extend from His character.

Purity comes from God, but it is a manifestation of His sovereignty and power. God alone – through the grace given to us in Jesus – has the power to change the leopards spots and melt the heart of stone. The Father alone can cover the black stain of sin with the red blood of His Son and create a life whiter than snow (Is 1:18).