Late winter snowstorms are more likely to cause a sneer than a smile—March madness of another sort! The snow that added calm delight to Christmastime and those January cup-of-tea-browsing-seed-catalogs-by-the-fire moments now feels infuriating. It stands in the way of all that we hope to sow, grow and bloom as soon as the nuisance of the last frost has passed. Time to spring forward! Yet I suppose I can linger for a moment—since the snow-showers suspended my garden work anyway—to hear the shrouded garden beds whisper the simple promise of salvation: God has us covered.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow Isaiah 1:18 NIV
You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins. Psalm 85:2 NIV
Everything is overlaid with white, washed over in a fresh, clean covering. God offers us the same; he completely embraces our shortcomings, short-sightedness, shortfalls and short tempers. The Lord Jesus won our salvation in a mantle of mercy, just as all the flaws of my garden (especially the untended weeds!) are covered by the blanket of snow. The belated blizzards proclaim the Lord’s willingness to wash us clean, and I guess I needed to hear it one more time.
Prayer: O Lord, let me put my plans aside and tiptoe into the silent presence of the snowdrifts. Help me sense the restoration that this lustrous layer of sparkling snow implies. You have turned from your fierce anger (Psalm 85:3); help me do the same!
Photo Credit: Salter Family’s snow-covered garden in Golden, CO
