The Winter of our Discontent

As I write, pellets of sleet are tapping on the window in front of me. And I wonder: is ice accumulating on those oak branches hanging over the power lines out back? Is our house about to go dark again? This has become the “winter of our discontent” (that may have been Shakespeare’s line, but it has found new meaning in 2014): freezing rain, sticky snow, tree limbs crashing down, raging icicles, plus some nasty cold temperatures. And yet, of the many ways to describe this winter’s weather (such as horrendous, unprecedented, stunning…), I’d like to suggest a different term: meaningful. Packed with significance. The convulsions of nature are one way God speaks. So just what is he saying through the wild winter weather? God exhibits his raw power through Nor’easter and Polar Vortex systems that bring our routines grinding to a halt. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder that he’s charge and we’re not. Are you at peace with that? Or do you get all bent out of shape when conditions don’t toe the line for your “well-laid plans”? Remember, Psalm 19:1 is true all the time, not just with pretty sunsets: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The Lord’s creative power and sovereign majesty are on display this winter: do you have eyes to see? Praise the Lord, fire and hail and snow and frost! (Ps 148:8). God is always at work for the good of his people (Rom 8:28), so let’s be on the lookout for the good in having our agenda squashed. Maybe we need to be disrupted. Disruption gives us a chance to live by faith—to trust the Lord with down time, loss, discomfort, even pain. Don’t forget: the Father “disciplines those he loves” (Heb 12:6). James 4:13-16 confronts our vain self-assurance: “Of course we’ll go here and there and do this and that tomorrow and the next day!” Winter Storm Pax reminds us that tomorrow is God’s domain. The One who runs the universe also holds our future in his hand. Are you content with that, even amidst the storm? One more thought: could it be that God gives us this mild misery to awaken us from our self-sovereignty stupor so that we’d see a world in need—people facing affliction far worse than our blizzard?