Journey of a Snowflake
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
It’s weird to think about snow in the summertime. We know summer for its hot, humid days, its starry nights, and its rumbling thunderstorms. But not snow.
Snow harkens back to the cold and dry winter, so distant it feels unrelated to our current time and place. But the prophet Isaiah reminds us that the snow that comes down from heaven does not return until it has watered the earth. Imagine the journey of a single snowflake landing on a mountain peak in late winter. It patiently bids its time through the changes of seasons until spring arrives and it melts, joining together with other drops of water in a trickling stream, a flowing river, a great big reservoir, and finally, after months of movement, spurting out of a hose to quench the thirst of a summer garden.
The snowflake plays the long game in accomplishing God’s purpose: to water the earth, to give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. It may take a long time, but that snowflake is faithful and determined to accomplish the task to which God appointed it.
We too are called to play the long game in accomplishing God’s hopes for our world, where all people will live with joy and peace. It’s a long and winding way, but we are in good company: the road we travel has footprints from the faithful who walked it before us, and we are on this journey together. And along the way, we might have eyes to see and ears to hear the mountains and the hills bursting into song, and the trees of the field clapping their hands.
