“You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.”
-Psalm 18:28
It snowed last week, in November, in Kentucky. This was kind of a big deal. I’m sure it’s not the first time it’s happened, but it’s the first time I can remember. It’s not like we had a blizzard or anything, but there was actually some accumulation. Because of the sleet that had turned to ice before the snow, the county schools even closed for two days.
Then, after a couple of frigid days, the snow melted, and the weather returned to normal (or at least semi-normal) temps. So it was that as I walked up to our deck a few days later, a certain area of our lawn caught my eye. Around the brick sidewalk and decorative pond, there were still small patches of snow.
It gave me pause for thought. The rest of the yard was snow-free. There were some small areas of brown among the blanket of green, and there were areas that were covered in crackly piles of dead leaves, but nary a snowflake was to be found anywhere else on our five-acre plot.
So many days after the main event, why did this area still have snow?
The answer, of course, didn’t require a botanist or a meteorologist. That particular area of the lawn is shielded from the sun. Because it sits in the shadows of the deck and a brick wall, it receives very little light. Without the warming rays of the sun, the ground there stays frozen longer, providing the perfect chilly bed to keep the snow from completely melting.
It reminded me how much our hearts can be like that frozen patch of ground.
Just like the snow covered our whole lawn, all of humanity is touched by evil in some way. Everyone experiences grief, loss, sickness, frustrations, disagreements…generally bad things. The Bible tells us that snow—I mean, rain—falls on the just and the unjust (Mathew 5:45). While there are definitely degrees of hurt, all of us know what it’s like to hurt in some way.
But, sometimes, it feels as if the snow melts off everyone else a little faster and that the residual yucky slush sticks around longer than it should. If we aren’t careful, we can begin to believe that we are just that different, that our experiences are just that unique, that things are just harder for us for some reason. We try to blame everything but the actual cause. In reality, just like with our lawn, the grass is the same all over, and the snow is the same as well. The problem is simply a lack of light.
However, unlike my yard, the amount of Light we receive is up to us. It’s a simple solution. If we want the cold snow of hurt to dissipate more quickly from our hearts and lives, we have to expose ourselves to the Light of God more often. We do that by spending time in the presence of the Lord—time in prayer, time in Bible study, time in worship, time in church, time in Christian fellowship, and time in service to others in the Lord’s name.
Don’t get me wrong. It isn’t easy. There will always be snow. Even when the current snow melts, it’s very likely that it will snow again. But when it does, the grass that is in the Light will always clear the fastest. So, remember, if you, like me, like most of us, are hurting, we should seek comfort and healing from our frozen hearts by spending time in the warmth of our Savior.
When your heart is cold from the hurts of this world, what practical things help you feel God’s light?