“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?”
JOB 38:22–23
If you’ve ever driven over a mountain pass in a snowstorm, you may feel like you have seen God’s storehouses of snow and hail! When a storm rolls in, clouds envelop the peaks. Snow flies thick toward your windshield, and tall evergreens are soon cloaked in white. While the kids in the backseat may be enchanted by a landscape that looks like Christmas, the adult behind the wheel often has white knuckles! The roads get slick, and it can be nearly impossible to tell where the pavement ends and the soft shoulder begins. Some drivers pull over into designated areas to put chains on their tires. Snowplows and gravel trucks are a welcome sight, working to improve the driving conditions.
Storms of all kinds are painful reminders of just how powerless we can be. How do we respond? How do we approach the Lord in those tumultuous seasons? Poor Job was hit with so much: the deaths of his children, the loss of material wealth and comfort, and the ruining of his physical health. When he questioned God, the Lord’s response was to remind him at length exactly who He was, and who Job was not. Snow was one in a long list of things that God created, understands, and has power over. Though He never explained any purpose for Job’s suffering, Job was chastened and replied, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). How often do we respond to God with that kind of trust and humility in the storm?