When you woke up this morning, did you notice the breathtaking scenery outside? Did you take a moment to soak in the view of each and every branch, twig, and object outside coated in a fresh layer of snow? Or maybe even smile at the sight? I know, some of us groan while others of us delight.
For some reason, when I think of snow, I immediately think of grace. It’s the very next word that pops into my head, and I think about it every morning I wake up and notice that garment of white which the earth is wearing every so often these days. It may be due to verses such as Isaiah 1:18, which says, “‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” Or Psalm 51 in which David is confessing, repenting, and asking the Lord to remove his transgression and sin after his disobedience in the form of adultery with Bathsheba. David says to the Lord, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” There’s just something about snow that equates in my mind with grace.
In the sermon at my church yesterday, the pastor described the difference between mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting the punishment you deserve. Grace, however, is receiving a blessing you do not deserve. The example he used was being sentenced to two hours in his bedroom after misbehaving as a child. Sometimes, his father came in after half an hour, and my pastor confirmed he was sorry, and his father would let him out of his room early. He did not have to endure the full punishment. That was mercy. However, when his father would come in early, and my pastor confirmed he was sorry, and his father would also offer to take him to ice cream, that was grace. I believe the strongest example of mercy is the Lord not sentencing us to an eternity away from Him, in the pit, in hell. Rather, the greatest example of grace is that, despite not deserving it, He sent His son to bear our sin so that we may enjoy eternity in the presence of our Creator, our Savior, our good and just King. Mercy is what God saves us from, and grace is what He saves us to. Mercy is not being thrown into hell. Grace is being invited to reside with Jesus forever in paradise.
The snow this morning was that lovely, light and fluffy kind. The kind that was almost fun for me to brush off my car with such ease. But sometimes the snow is heavy, slushy, icy, and glued to every inch of whatever it has fallen upon. Those are the days when scraping off your car requires a lot of time, effort, frozen fingers, and perhaps even a broken ice scraper. I wonder… can grace be like that? Is grace always fluffy and light, immediately seen as the blessing it is? Or are there times it comes in forms that are more difficult for us to swallow? Harder to chisel through and really understand that what God is doing is for our good? I believe that can be the case sometimes. I believe His grace is so great and so much higher than anything we can wrap our minds around, that even things we complain about or mourn can actually be displays of God’s grace in our lives and in the lives of those around us. And, still, we do not deserve an ounce of it.
Have you ever noticed how horizontal surfaces amass much more snow than vertical surfaces? Of course you have – I feel silly for even asking. But follow me here. The ground, the lowliest surface of all, receives so much more snow than anything else. Look at trees or buildings. The horizontal limbs, the roof, the flatter surfaces “catch” more snow than the surfaces running upward. I wonder if grace is “caught” in a similar manner. To the ones who prefer to grow outward, the ones who choose to branch outward to spread their love and influence, much grace can cling. On the branches that are focused, rather, on growing upward, those of us who are focused on our own growth and benefit and status, perhaps not quite as much grace can really stick. And we are our own obstacle in that. The snow comes down everywhere, and so does God’s grace, but only some of us realize it and allow it to really stay on us. Only some of us understand that the lowliest places are the places where God often chooses to favor. Biblical examples such as the youngest son, the poorest woman, the outsider, the orphan, the widow, the weakest one, the quietest one. God can display His glory all the more through the humblest as these. Are we bowing low in His presence so that He may be the One to raise us up? So that He gets the full honor and glory and praise? Are we more focused on upward momentum or outward momentum?
God’s grace covers us all. But when we are focused on ourselves or on how we personally view a situation, we may have a hard time seeing that grace or believing it. We might not realize how much God has given us and that we have done nothing to deserve it. I can look in the lives of everyone I know – whether they are Christians or not – and see how the Lord has bestowed grace in their lives. So that one day they might believe. So that one day they might realize it has been Him all along. So that one day they might have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to receive His Spirit and the life only He can give. So that His story may be told through their journey. His grace is overwhelming and it is transforming.
One thing about snow for which I am truly thankful is the fact that snow and the cold help to kill off a lot of bad things and it serves as the land’s refresh button. We need it. It prevents us from having summers of too many mosquitoes and ticks, and even helps slow certain germs and nasties floating around from spreading. This winter season is part of a grand design for our own benefit, as easy as it is to complain about the cold or the consequential driving conditions. Grace does likewise. When we receive God’s grace, we can’t even help but let go of some of the negative aspects of our lives, of our attitudes. Thanklessness, self-pity, anger, frustration, self-centeredness all fall away. They all fall under the grace of God and, by the grace of God, He works those things out of our systems. When He comes in, there is no room for those other things. It is miraculous. And we are white as snow. White as this gorgeous January morning. Because of His Son, because of His love.
2 Timothy 1:9, HLC
sacred strokes 