Just Paving the Way

I love the snow! As a young child I always appreciated time off school, warm hot chocolate after coming in from playing in the snow, and the almost magical way the snow blanketed the earth. There was just something about it that as a young boy that gave the impression of the coming Christmas season even when all decorations had been put away.

Now as an adult, I still love the snow. And yes, there is a part of me that still thinks of snow as a preview of Christmas, but the snow has taken a deeper meaning as well. There is a beauty to the snow that no other form of weather can claim. Standing outside by my car, surveying the world around me, I could not help but be amazed at the collection of the most unlikely friendships that would seem otherwise bitter enemies.

The wind, the biting cold, all appear to take away from the beauty of the snow that covers the earth in a blanket of warmth and peace. And yet, the wind and the bitter cold were merely an afterthought. Nothing in the world seemed to move. Time, itself, stopped to allow a glimpse into a world of stillness and peace. And perhaps, as an adult, I was only able to put into words that which I had felt as a young boy so long ago. The wonder and excitement over fresh fallen snow.

Time, itself, stopped to allow a glimpse into a world of stillness and peace.

While the snow brings stillness and peace, the rest of the world moves on and I could only enjoy the snow for so long before beginning again. There is one thing I cannot stand about the snow. It's not having to walk up a steep hill after sledding down it time and again. It is not the cold or the wind. The thing I hate most about the snow is shovelings it off the driveway. It takes long, it's mindless, and it gets me all hot and sweaty. The worst thing about it, however, is when the plow comes by.

The plow that is supposed to clear the snow throws snow on the already shoveled driveway. Work that I have already done is work I need to do over again. I hate it! It is the worst feeling. All that work I've already completed I have to now do over again because the plow has plowed me in again. The joy of the snow, the peace that it brings has been shaken. Instead of loving the snow, I find myself hating it and wishing that it had never come.

But what is the function of the plow? Why is it even needed? What would happen if the plow didn't do what it was created to do? While the plow may force me to remove more snow from my driveway, its function is to clear the way for people to get to where they need to be.

For many of us, we believe that once we experience the peace of Jesus, we will never be shaken. We might feel that after encountering the risen Lord, nothing should phase us. Or, at the very least, our faith should never be testing. But what happens when that faith encounters the "plows of life" and that which we believed would never shake us end up having to shovel again and again. That peace we see in the snow we see as a curse, a chore we have to do. It takes away from our peace.

But the plow too has a purpose. The plows that seem to take away our joy and peace might be the very thing to make a way for someone to get to their destination. The very thing that seeks to destroy our joy could be the very thing that brings someone to faith in Jesus Christ. We want to believe the struggles of life are struggles that disappear once we start following Jesus, but sometimes Jesus allows us to struggle so others may be able to reach their destination.

The very thing that seeks to destroy our joy could be the very thing that brings someone to faith in Jesus Christ.

We don't know the struggle the Apostle Paul struggled with. What we do know is that he begged God three times for God to take his struggle away. God's response is... "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). In other words, do we trust God with our struggles? Do we trust Him when we have to struggle with the same struggle time and time again? Do we trust He will use our struggle for good and according to His design (Romans 8:28).

I don't know what struggle you struggle with. I don't know your past or how much your struggle affects your present. For some of you reading this, this feels like the knife that has already been inserted into you was buried deeper. I know I have my own struggles, and it is hard for me to accept that my struggles will continue to be my struggles. I don't know want to experience my struggle day after day. However, I'm curious how knowing that my struggle might help someone else reach their destination will affect how I view the snow. Maybe knowing my struggle has a purpose is the very thing that can help me find joy and peace in the snow again.

I'm curious how knowing that my struggle might help someone else reach their destination will affect how I view the snow.

The snow will come. And so will the plow. The question we have to ask ourselves is how we respond to the plow. Will we view it as an opportunity to participate in the story God is writing for us? Or will we view it as just another reason not to see the beauty in the snow.