The Mountain of Snow

by | Jan 12, 2023 | Perspective, Provision, Submission, Surrender

The winter of 2022 was harsh in my province in Canada. By mid-January, we received the “blizzard of the decade”, dumping more than 60 cm (2 feet) of snow in 24 hours. We had barely been dug out of this when the next 30 cm arrived, and then the next and the next.

Because we live on a crescent, our street is one of the last ones for the city to plow out. This is because there is no place to push the snow to the side of the road as they would normally do. As a result, the plow drivers have to build “mountains of snow” in the middle of all of the city’s crescents.

I’m always happy to see the plow finally come through; but I don’t like those “mountains of snow”. They block my view of the other side of the crescent, for one thing! But my primary reason for disliking them has to do with the fact that they represent cold and ice and snow, all weather conditions I personally could do without, and they take forever to melt. The previous year, we were already starting to cut the grass for the season by the time the mountain finally melted!

My opinion of the “mountain of snow” in the middle of our crescent was not shared by everyone, however. The kids LOVE this local “snowy mountain”, and they flock outside to climb up to the top, to slide back down to the bottom, and to build snow forts at its base. I think many of their parents liked it too. In our day of electronic entertainment, made even worse by the fact that we had been in lock-down from COVIC-19, the parents were delighted that their kids were taking interest in something outdoors. I didn’t see any of them complaining as they stood to the side supervising their kids!

Our perspective of things is huge. If you think about it, most things that we would consider “bad” are in some way a blessing to someone else. You lose your job; but someone who is unemployed gets it. It rains on your picnic; but the farmers rejoice for their crops are receiving that all-important drink. You are sick and have to stay home from work; but your substitute wouldn’t have been able to work otherwise. 100$ in cash somehow drops out of your pocket and is lost; but the one who finds it may be able to go out now and buy the food they so desperately needed but couldn’t afford. And what about that bad diagnosis, the one you believed God would miraculously heal, but He didn’t? God carried you through, didn’t He? And in the process, your faith has grown!

I could go on, but I think you get the point: What is bad from my perspective may be a blessing from the perspective of someone else.

This brings to mind a Bible story. Balaam was called upon to curse Israel. He wasn’t able to do so. Instead, he pronounced blessings on God’s special people. This was a very bad thing for Balak, the Moabite king who requested the curses; but it proved to be a wonderful thing for the people of Israel (See Numbers 22-24).

The bottom line is, God knows how to turn bad things into good: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV).

What bad thing has come upon you? Don’t fret. Submit it to God, and then sit back and watch how He can bring good out of the bad. It is, after all, His specialty!

And maybe I will try to see that “mountain of snow” in the middle of my crescent from the same perspective as the kids…

In His love,
Rob Chaffart
Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries

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