In the grip of August’s hot, humid weather, it is hard to remember the early March blizzard which buried the central U.S. under 14+ inches of heavy, wet snow. Its high winds and below-zero temperatures left many rural roads and city streets impassable. A thick coat of ice underneath the snow made it impossible for snowplows to get roads cleared. The snow, melted into slush by salt and piled in heaps between tire tracks, quickly formed into formidable mounds of frozen, hard-packed ice. To remove these obstructions was a hopeless task. While some hardy souls tried and failed to break up some of the ice with shovels, travel remained treacherous.
Finally one morning—after drivers and pedestrians had spent miserable days sliding and bouncing over these immovable objects—the sun began to shine its bright and warm light on the cold scene. It made no noise and put on no dramatic display of power, but what a difference its warm light made!
On that cold morning people drove to work slowly bouncing and slipping over the hard-frozen piles of ice, dodging around huge potholes and sliding to unsure stops at intersections. Late that same afternoon, they returned home traveling over smooth, wet roads—noticeable for the absence of those frozen obstacles. The quiet warmth of the sun had accomplished in a few hours what men with all their energetic efforts, snowplows, salt and sand had been unable to accomplish in several days.
Too often we find in ourselves or others hearts that have been frozen into hard mounds of ice, due to the wintry effects of this dark, dead world through which we pass. Such coldness produces discouragement within families and assemblies and harms our testimonies to the lost around us.
The greatest victory ever won over the most difficult obstacle ever known was won at the cross of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ where His divine love—“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”—not the mighty power of the “twelve legions of angels,” fully defeated the awful foe and gained eternal satisfaction for God and eternal blessing for us.
Ed.