A Spring Snowstorm and God's Voice

Historically March and April deliver the most Colorado snow. The weather gives no heed to the calendar declaring the first day of spring in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Spring snow extends the season for the ski resorts; it provides necessary moisture for our dry, and in some areas, fire-scorched earth. But my friends and I grumble. We want crocuses, and daffodils, and tulips, and the warm days that speak of spring. God, who created and delivered the snow, also speaks through it.

May 1, 2013 – I wake to a gray sky. Snow has been sprinkled over my deck like salt from a salt shaker. The forecast calls for a much heavier sprinkling before the day is gone.

Mid-morning – the snowy-rain (or is it rainy-snow) is falling in earnest.  My deck glistens with the wetness of the moisture.

Mid-afternoon – all snow. It accumulates on the deck and the grassy areas, not the roads.

Late-afternoon – The roads are slick; the snow blankets; temperatures fall; ice warnings.

May 2, 2013 – The brilliant blue sky so common in Colorado is the backdrop for the heavy snow- laden branches of the pines. The beauty quiets the grumblings.

About 6"

It melts and evaporates quickly.

God speaks. As I page through my Bible looking for the familiar scripture about rain and snow falling down from heaven, I come upon another familiar, memorized, but long-forgotten scripture,

“May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like the showers upon the herb.” Deuteronomy 32:2

I cease my search; I am stopped. Why this scripture? Why now? I listen. God speaks. The lives of your friends are like tender grass and delicate herbs. What about your words? Are they gentle? Tender and gentle, I ponder these words; I remember the recent past. Ouch. Deuteronomy 32:2 becomes part of my personal prayers, God, please help me. Help me remember how tender my friends are. Help me to keep my words gentle. Amen.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving see to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55: 10 and 11