Earlier this week Southern Ontario got walloped by what many are calling SNOWMAGEDDON! Depending on the area, 30-50cm of snow fell creating a winter wonderland and a shovelling nightmare.

Have you ever noticed the sky when a snow storm rolls in? The clouds are grey and menacing and then as the snow is released it creates a beautiful enchanted landscape. If you happen to be driving in the car, it is mesmerizing to watch the snow fly towards the windshield as trees are cloaked with white. The driver, however, can barely appreciate it for fear of taking their eyes off the road!

The roads get slick, and it can be nearly impossible to tell where the pavement ends and the soft shoulder begins. As I write this, there are still abandoned cars on the sides of major roadways. Other drivers who report bein stuck in their cars for 20 hours waiting for cars to move.

Storms of all kinds are painful reminders of just how powerless we can be. How do we respond? How do we approach God in those tumultuous seasons?

In the book of Job, God says:

Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? —Job 38:22-23

Poor Job was hit with so much: the deaths of his children, the loss of material wealth and comfort, and the ruining of his physical health. When he questioned God, the Lord’s response was to remind him at length exactly who He was, and who Job was not. God never explained any purpose for Job’s suffering but reminded Job of all that He created, understood and has power over. Snow was just one in a long list of those things.

In hearing this, Job humbly replied,

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. —Job 38:42

How often do we respond to God with that kind of trust and humility in the storm?

We thank God that God is the creator of all things, yes even the snow. In its mounds and the beauty of its intricate individual flakes. And we thank God that God is in control in all the storms of our lives — including the blizzards! God will bring us through them because God’s love, power, and wisdom are too wonderful for us to know.