OK everybody up! Rise and Shine! Up! Up! Up! Come on now. Time to get your happy on. Go ahead, grab that coffee if you need it, but back away from the TV – at least for now. Protect the first hour of your day. Immerse yourself in Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about these.” Make this your best practice – and the God of peace will be with you. Peace.
Yesterday we took a tour of uses for snow and the manufacture of snowball memories. Someone commented “I never thought about the life of a snowball before and sure never related it to building a life.” True. Snow, when it’s stuck together in any form is an inanimate object, but don’t we often learn from the most obscure objects? Like – if the burner is red, DON’T touch it. Or yellow plus traffic means caution – slow down. Inanimate objects, but we learn from them.
When we see new snow fresh and glittering, pristine like a Currier & Ives Christmas card, we love it. When the snow crunches under foot, the snow has reached the optimum temperature to make snowballs and roll them into snowmen. We love the pureness, the natural bonding consistency, along with the artistic activity wrapped in fun. Life is like that. Right? Things rolling along smoothly, a few chinks in the process, a few gray patches, but still intact. Days pass, maybe weeks or months when we realize our snow is depleted, we’ve reached the end of our resources. An argument, a financial burden, a serious illness, a lost job, a broken relationship … no longer is the snow supply pristine and plentiful. We’ve picked up stray sticks and clumps of dirt. The snowball is no longer fun to roll and push along to its destination of snowman or snow fort. We’ve traded the pristine white for coal black blemishes. Maybe this seems like an implausible analogy but this is how it is in real life. Sometimes we fall short of our plans, our hopes crumble; we feel lost and spiritually bankrupt.
Just as there is no instant remedy for polluted snow, there is no instant cure for dreaded circumstances. But there is a prescription for peace while we work through the process of acceptance, forgiveness, repositioning, and getting back on track. Plant peace in your mind and promote it from your heart as we’re told in Proverbs 12:20 “Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.” None of us want to roll around in deceit and evil. 2Timothy 2:22 instructs “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” We strive for the pure, not the contaminated and polluted.
Where do we begin again with the fresh snowball? Start with being thankful for what we have instead of what we don’t. If we can’t change our gray circumstances, we have to brighten our attitude. Colossians 3:15 gives us one idea “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Are you searching for peace today? Jesus said, in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” No hocus pocus, no magic – we have this day and this time. Jeremiah 6:16 “This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Ready? We’ve got new snow. Let’s get out there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfAP0z-WqGk
Because of Grace we Press On