God Says, “Slow Down!”
by Dale Reeves
Story Pastor
The historic winter storm named Fern impacted over 220 million people across 34 states in America as well as Canada, canceled over 13,000 flights, left 600,000 people still powerless (as of Wednesday morning), and blanketed much of America with record snowfall, ice, and extreme cold. The impact stretched over 2,000 miles from New Mexico to Maine. It delivered over twenty inches of snow in parts of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, caused catastrophic ice accumulation in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and was responsible for widespread business, church, and school closures. Reported deaths of at least thirty lives were attributed to hypothermia, sledding accidents, and snowplow strikes.
I measured eleven inches of snow on our patio table in Mason last Sunday evening, and after joining with my brothers and sisters for online church Sunday morning, I began to reflect on some of the most well-known songs that seemed appropriate last weekend. Today I present my Top Ten of winter songs for your listening pleasure:
10. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” by Bruce Springsteen
9. “Immigrant Song,” by Led Zeppelin
8. “A Hazy Shade of Winter,” by Simon & Garfunkel
7. “Winter Time,” by Steve Miller Band
6. “Wintertime Love,” by The Doors
5. “A Winter’s Tale,” by Queen
4. “Fire and Ice,” by Steve Camp
3. “Blood Oranges in the Snow,” by Over the Rhine
2. “Cold as Ice,” by Foreigner
And the number one most popular song for this season . . . drum roll please . . .
1. “Ice Ice Baby,” by Vanilla Ice
In 1990 Robert Matthew Van Winkle, a white rapper from Miami, Florida, released a hip-hop single that was the first rap song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. For seven days of glory, the rapper better known as “Vanilla Ice” was number one. In his early teens, Van Winkle was struggling through the mire of who he was as a human, and he got started in his entertainment career by joining a breakdancing group where he was the only white boy. When “Ice Ice Baby” hit in October 1990, there was controversy about how Vanilla had lifted the bass line from rock group Queen and David Bowie’s song “Under Pressure.” Regardless, undoubtedly you either know the lyrics to this song, have danced to it at a wedding reception, or otherwise have not been able to avoid it.
One of the famous lines from “Ice Ice Baby” is this:
“If there was a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.”
Well, one of the main problems we face as a society is our inability to slow down our breakneck pace and rest—to “Sabbath,” as the Scriptures call it. As our lead pastor Brad Wilson said last Sunday in his sermon that we watched at home in our pajamas, “Maybe God is saying today through the weather, ‘I want to slow you down and give you the ability to have a different perspective. I want you to be a part of what I’m doing through the church.’” It’s as if God were saying, “There’s a problem, and I want to solve it!”
If you missed Brad’s timely teaching from the life of the prophet Elijah, and how God called him to slow down and get refreshed, you can check it out here.
Storehouses of Snow
We shouldn’t ever be surprised when we are hit with a snowstorm of this magnitude because God has an unending supply of the white stuff and the cold temperatures and ice that come with it.
At the end of the book of Job, Yahweh God begins to speak to Job, the man who suffered so much, as the first verse of chapter 38 says, “Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm” (Job 38:1, NIV). And a few of the questions God asks Job are these: “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? . . . Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes” (Job 38:22, 29, 30, NLT).
The psalmist tells us, “He sends the snow like white wool; he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like stones. Who can stand against his freezing cold? Then, at his command, it all melts. He sends his winds, and the ice thaws” (Psalm 147:16-18, NLT).
Whiter Than Snow
So, a few things on your calendar got blown up this past week. You had to miss a day of sales calls and in-person appointments. Your child had to miss his swim lessons. Your daughter’s dance class was canceled. You had to stay in and cook for yourself rather than grabbing some fast food at a drive-thru. But maybe, just maybe, God was trying to get your attention . . . asking you to . . .
–Get to know your neighbors by shoveling driveways on your street together.
–Spend time with him by reading a portion of his Word and talk with him through prayer for more than five minutes.
–Enjoy some extended time with your family members by playing a board game, reading a book in front of a fireplace, or doing a puzzle together.
–Call a friend or shut-in to see how they’re doing, letting them know they are not alone, and are in your thoughts.
–Celebrate God’s goodness and grace by viewing his pure white snow, enjoying the beauty of his nature, thanking him for the blood of Jesus that covers you and makes you as white as snow.
Have you ever noticed what ducks do on a frozen pond in the winter? If they have stayed up north and not migrated, they have learned the danger of not moving with the other ducks when a pond starts to freeze. If a duck chooses to go it alone, not following the others in the raft, the duck may find itself frozen in the pond because it didn’t move when it needed to. The smart ducks, however, huddle together in a place on the pond to conserve heat, increase safety from predators, and avoid freezing in the ice. They know that they are better together.
One of the benefits of belonging to the church that Jesus founded is this: We have brothers and sisters in the body of Christ who can help us avoid the icy traps that our enemy wants to set before us. We have good friends who love Jesus and one another and are willing to help us walk through whatever icy conditions we are facing. If need be, they will help us chip away at the chunks in our lives that we know we need to get rid of. And, we who are part of the church together know that we will experience the best that life has to offer when we obey God’s voice, and move together as one, realizing he is the only One who can forgive our sins and make us whiter than snow,
Similar to COVID, last week I really did miss the sweet fellowship with so many brothers and sisters, and all the hugs I get and give each Lord’s Day. I can’t wait to see you in person this coming Sunday as we begin a new teaching series called, “It’s Complicated.”
May we pray this prayer that King David prayed after committing his most grievous sins: “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7, NIV).