Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,  Job 38:22

One moment in my growing up years I will never forget is the first time I saw “the treasury of the snow.”  It was on a winter night and I was walking down some cement steps that paralleled our yard.  There was a blanket of undisturbed snow that lay about eight inches or so.  To light my way down the stairs was a street lamp casting its sort of white light on the white snow.  I turned to look at the snow and noticed that it seemed there was a million diamonds embedded in the God given blanket.  Every “diamond” sparkled in the light as if it were the largest of large diamonds found.  Upon reflection of this memory I remember a dialogue between the Lord God and His servant Job.  Job was in the midst of a great affliction that seemed to have no end.  After a while into the trial Job began to have questions for God.  It is important to remember that Job in all of His trials did not sin.  But instead of Job asking questions about God’s actions, Job was himself questioned by God about His omnipotence and vast wisdom.   In Job 38 and 39 we read 60+ questions God put to Job.  God questioned Job on things like where Job was when God laid the foundations of the Earth, could Job cause the lightning to flash, could Job ordain the rain to fall where it was needed, and many other omnipotent questions which served to reveal a glimpse of how much God is in control and the demonstrations of that control.  Then there is the question that really somewhat puzzles me.  A question about snow.  Snow, just simple flaking pretty stuff that we appreciate (and sometimes dread) falling in the winter. Yet as in everything I believe there is a greater meaning and purpose to everything God does more than that, which is on the surface, and that human understanding fails to comprehend.   So the question is, as it should be in any discussion about ourselves and God, is that how does this element of nature glorify God and at the same time relate to me? 

The first reflection we have is that what God gives is better than man’s valuable wealth.  God asked Job directly, “Have you ever entered the treasure of the snow?”  Now I do not know of anyone anywhere that values snow enough to put a price tag on it.  Yet we see first of all that God’s treasures have a value that no currency can attain.  Anything God gives us is such a greater gift that money is worthless beside it to offer it in exchange. Consider these thoughts. What dollar amount can buy a changed life?  What amount purchases complete peace in desperate times of hardship or grief?  How much would it take to own a single day of eternal life?  How much does Heavenly real estate cost (streets of purest gold included)?  We could go on for quite a while here.  But that is what God is trying to get Job to see with this question.  Snow may not contain earthly diamonds, but it is instantly made iridescent crystallizations by the billions that speak of God’s everlasting provision of things far better than money can buy. 

Secondly, God’s storehouses of wealth will never run out.  Have you ever on a snowy day tried to count snowflakes falling?  It is impossible.  First of all they fall all around you in a 360 degree, three-dimensional space and we can only see one perspective at a time.  Another reason is that snow once fallen connects itself into one large mass that stretches as far as we can see.  Thirdly, snow falls in places we have never explored.  All of this speaks of God’s never ending wealth.  God will not come up short in His blessings for your life.  You may think, “Well it seems like God doesn’t give me as much as He does others.”  It is not because the storehouse is empty; it may be that the receiver (us) is not able to handle certain things we desire.  The greatest storehouse in God’s economy however that will never run out and is always amply flowing to mankind is His grace.  It boggles the mind to imagine how much sin we have in our lives and that the grace of our Lord and Savior is large enough to corral it all with plenty of room left over.  Whenever snow falls, it mostly comes in greater quantities than we can stand.  Such it is with God and His bestowing wealth.

Thirdly, in looking at the snow, one realizes the diversity of God’s blessings.  Have you ever tried to catch a snowflake and examine it before it melted?  If you do, you will find out intricate and delicate each flake is in form, design, scrollwork, shape, and beauty.  Think about this, there is absolutely no factory moulds snowflakes are pumped out of.  Every individual snowflake is literally made by the omnipotence of God.  Man cannot create such a diverse, intricate form like this and do it instantly.  Often times I have shared with people a particular day I was walking in a parking lot as it was beginning to snow.  As I saw the flakes pelting my black coat the most amazing thing happened.  Each flake that hit my coat in random sizes was perfect recreations of the Star of David.  It was most incredible!  God’s blessings upon men come in like diversity.  An answer to prayer, groceries delivered when you have none, a deliverance from a potential traffic accident, the reversal of an illness, the salvation of a loved one, the revelation of scripture to our heart’s needs, the heat to have in winter, the blessing of being able to see a field of flowers and to hear a song bird chorus, and again we can go on and on.   When man tries to meet needs or be a blessing he can only operate in what limited things he knows to offer.  Let us thank the Lord that He never comes up short or is limited.

Lastly, only in listing, is the symbolic treasury of the snow.  Without reservation everyone tends to agree how beautiful the landscape of the earth looks after that first good snowfall.  Everything is white and clean looking.  The air smells so fresh and there is an unusual quiet hush at night because the snow acts as an absorber of sound.  Such is God’s greatest intention for the whole of man.  Does God want us to prosper in life? Yes.  Does God want us to enjoy life? Yes.  Does God smile when we enjoy all His earthly blessings and goodness? Yes.  But in all of this, His overriding eminent desire is that you and I as believers are to be just like His blessed Son, our spiritual elder brother Jesus Christ.  He wants us to put on the purity of holiness, not having spot or stain.  He wants so much to present us before the Father in the most clean and pure form possible that He gave His own Son for us that is the foundation of the most marvelous gift out of God’s treasury.  Just as the snow hides all the ugliness of earth under its white robe, so to does the purity of God, transplanted to each believing heart, hides all the sin and putrefaction of guilt we without exception possess.  But God’s purity does so much more than hide it.  One glorious day, we shall be received up into everlasting glory, either by death or rapture, God gives us bodies whiter than snow and purer than any measure of purity found on earth.  We no more will fight with disease, faults, failures, hang-ups, habits, brokenness, bruises, weepings, wanderings, and death that the Scripture plainly states in 1 John 3:2-3: “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”

We as poor understanding mortals value only what we can touch and hoard.  God is far more interested in what lasts when all we behold lies in ashes.  Believer, the next time you see snow, look for its treasures and there you will find the omnipotence of your Father, and the wealth He gives as your Provider and Friend.

Jon Browning
© 2008 Bible Center Church