Old Snow

I’m sitting here watching the snow fall out the window. It’s the middle of March. We don’t get snow in the middle of March. But as much as I want the Spring weather and the Summer coming shortly after that, there’s just something about snow that draws me in. It’s so peaceful. I’m reminded of something Max Lucado once said in a book, ‘You need a God who, while so mind-numbingly mighty, can come in the soft of night and touch you with the tenderness of an April snow.’ Snow shows us not only the tenderness of God, but also the pressure of this world. Too much snow and you become weighted down; trees fall, roofs cave in, backs are thrown out trying to shovel it. That’s not to say that God’s gifts are too heavy over time, but that the world we live in takes something good, and turns it into something we can’t handle. You see, that is the goal of the Enemy. Twist everything that is good so that you don’t feel like you can handle it. That way you stop wanting the good and start wanting to be left alone instead, because it’s easier. It may be easier but where is the joy? Where is the excitement? The comfort? Where is the reason for being, the reason for this life at all if it is not in the little gifts that we receive every day? You have to remember to find the beauty, to find what was meant and not what it has become. Like the beauty of the first snow fall, not the weight of the last. The beauty of the first Spring Flower, not the death of it when the season is over. The beauty of a new born babe, not the crying that will follow. Do you see the pattern here?

So when you feel as though life is stuck in the middle of some broken record, remember to stop and look for the beauty around you. It is the beauty that will see you through this life.

I was recently told that joy is a choice. I believe that now more than ever. You don’t have to like where you are in life. You don’t have to like the direction it seems to be taking. You don’t have to be happy every minute of every day. But you have to choose to see the joy, even in the pain. As Barbra Johnson said, ‘We are all going to have pain... but misery is optional.’ The only problem is that misery is definitely the easier option. It doesn’t make life more bearable, better, or worth living, but it is by far easier to find the bad in this life then it is to find the good. Misery is a downward spiral whereas joy is an upward climb; A steep, slippery, jagged, upward climb. Who doesn’t enjoy a good slide compared to a death defying ladder? The problem with misery is that it’s miserable. There is no laughter, no peace, and no beauty. There is truly no point to anything in this world if you don’t have joy. Joy may be that upward climb, but there are plateaus on that climb. Places where we can stop and enjoy the view, revel in what we have accomplished, and regain any lost strength for the next part of our journey.   

So don’t chose misery, choose joy.

The view is worth it more then words could ever say.