As I was driving in the snow Monday morning, I realized this was the pretty snow. Big, fat flakes swirled around, and I could see the definition of each flake on my car window before it quickly melted away.
I had every intention of coming home from the grocery and doing laundry.
But I grabbed my camera instead.
I stood in 20-degree weather, focusing my macro lens on miniature marvels. Intent on holding a steady focus, I didn’t notice how my fingers were frozen. I was grinning—so excited to know I was capturing these little miracles of ice.
Inside, warming up, and reviewing the photos on my computer, I was awestruck at how amazing our Creator is.
God the Father takes so much care to create something so unique, so fragile, so breathtakingly beautiful—and it literally melts moments after it falls to earth. How many billions of snowflakes are never admired, never photographed, never appreciated—and yet, He designs them anyway.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. —James 4:14
Snowflakes are vapor. Intricately designed, frozen water vapor.
Would anyone complain if every snowflake looked the same? Would anyone even notice? Most don’t last long enough to be studied. But just because they are temporary does not mean they are trivial.
In their microscopic detail, they give glory to an Almighty Creator. And that tells me something about the character of God.
He is careful.
Snowflakes fall wherever the Creator places them. They don’t fight to land on the nicest ski slope in Switzerland; they accept falling in an unnoticed corner of a random backyard.
We too, are His workmanship.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. —Ephesians 2:10
We are His creation, made with skill and loving attention.
Why should we resist where He has placed us? Why should we fear that He made a mistake?
Do you think that trials come into your life because God ran out of ideas? He isn’t panicking. He isn’t scrambling to improvise under pressure. He can craft a perfect snowflake that lasts mere seconds. How much more does He love you, with a soul that will last for all eternity?
God is constant. We are not.
Our emotions fluctuate week to week, hour by hour. We go through ‘seasons of life’. Our roles change, our energy fluctuates. Sometimes what we thought was a clear calling can feel shelved.
But think of Gideon. He was not standing on a battlefield when God called him. He was literally hiding, merely surviving a difficult ‘season’.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. —Judges 6:12
There’s no evidence that Gideon felt mighty. He doubted. He hesitated. He asked for signs. And yet God did not reject him. He called Gideon mighty according to what He was forming, not based on where Gideon was the moment He called him.
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: —Philippians 1:6
Why do we doubt His ability to create something beautiful out of our lives? Why would we question His infinite power? Only God can see the full picture. He knows exactly what He has begun in you and He will not give up and cast it aside.
This past Sunday, we sang “Living by Faith,” and I just about choked on the words. Because, if I am honest, that day I did care what the morrow would bring. I did care if the tempest blew, if storm clouds arose. Sometimes I know my worry is vain, but I do it anyway.
A truer hymn in that moment felt like, “Many times Satan whispers there is no need to try, for there’s no end of sorrow, there’s no hope by and by…”
But if God gives intricate care to a snowflake, that alone should challenge the lies Satan hurls.
God is careful.
God is creative.
He is constant.
He forms these beautiful snowflakes, and He’s forming you, too.
Snow flakes are amazing. No two alike and they are always hexagonal. The really beautiful things in this world come from God.
Awesome reflection!