Winter & Spring - all in one week

"He comes from the north as golden splendor; with God is awesome majesty." Job 37:22

So much snow! We had so much snow fall on Saturday & Sunday! It was beautiful & bright & dangerous. We were meant to go out to visit family on Sunday but after some contemplation, we decided to just go back home & watch it from the safety of our living room. It just wasn't stopping & wasn't quite worth the risk of driving in it.

And then, overnight Sunday, the temperature started to creep up and it began to rain, and rain, AND RAIN. The snow was melting away on Monday! Tuesday morning we woke to find our yards bare & void of any hint that it had snow. The sun came out & we walked around town in nothing but sweaters, no jackets needed!

How does the temperature change so drastically? What is the purpose of it? Last winter when the snow came in November, it stayed with us until well into the new year. I kind of figured this would happen again but here we are back to brown & bare. And the grass looks so green today! You would think it was one last Spring storm & the buds should be popping out tomorrow!

I have one silly lilac bush that never knows what time of year it is. It had full thick buds on it early November. Last January I noticed it was doing the same thing. And then, after all that effort, it didn't produce one flower. Its too confused to get it right.

With all this talk of global warming affecting this and that, the cold temperatures we had last week just made me scoff at the term 'global warming' but then here we are today, sunny and about +7 Celcius! Crazy stuff!

I've posted before on the verses in the book of Job that talk about weather...

"From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen. Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds. And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, that they may do whatever He commands them on the face of the whole earth. He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy." Job 37:9-13

I like that last part, as to why God causes weather - for correction, for His land, or for mercy. Whenever we get strange or wonderful or fierce weather, I wonder about this verse. I wonder why we are having it. Often I wonder if its for correction. I wonder this about New Orleans, and where the other hurricanes & tsunamis hit. All within God's power to change, to wield, to release. I can say the whole world needs a lot of correction, and many areas also need mercy and in between, He's just taking care of His land so that it will continue to flourish.

And then I think of our own lives and the weather that passes through our souls. We can have snow storms one day, fear of going out into the world, feeling angry, feeling sad ~ the storm can last for days, holding our souls captive, or, the very next day, a spring-like warmth can come, reviving & rejuvinating our souls. Letting the greeness of new growth & new life burst forth. Maybe the storm was for correction, maybe the spring sun was for mercy.

Weather on the earth, weather in our souls - all part of God's divine plan!