“Oh, what a blamed uncertain thing

This pesky weather is; 

It blew and snew and then it thew,

And now, by jing, it’s friz!”

—Philander Johnson (1866-1939)

To rephrase an old saying, “Snow, snow, go away, come again another day.” When “cabin fever” takes hold, we tend to forget the beauty of snow. I think the nineteenth century English essayist and reformer John Ruskin had some wise words, though. He said, “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating: there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” The best thing to do is simply enjoy what God gives us, and recognize, as Christ said, God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

As Kin Hubbard has said, “Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” It is truly amazing what some snow can do for conversation!

A farmer lettered his weather vane with the words, “God is love.” He was questioned by an unbelieving friend. “Does that mean,” said the friend, “that God is as fickle and as changeable as the wind?” “Absolutely not,” he replied. “What it means is that no matter whether the wind is a cold North wind, or a biting East wind, God is still love just as much as he is when there is a warm South wind or a gentle West wind. God is always love.”

How comforting to know, whether the weather is “pesky” or polite, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Among the questions God asked the impatient sufferer Job were these: “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?” (Job 38:22). Perhaps we have not considered the treasures of the snow or seen the treasures of the hail. Surely God’s creation is marvelous to behold!

We need to remember that the God Who is love, and the God Who created the treasures of the snow is the God Who “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

*Written during an extended snow storm in Morristown, TN.