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The first snowfall of the year began this week as I was getting ready for work. I look outside one moment and it's raining lightly. I look out again and snow's falling. By the time I walk outside to my car it's a winter wonderland. Like walking inside a Christmas card depicting a beautiful snow scene. The flakes are so large they look like the ones little children create with white paper, blunt-edged scissors and hope-filled hearts.
I get into my car and back out of my driveway. I turn left to go down my street. There's the smallest incline in the road. My car almost stops. The speedometer registers two miles an hour. I try to go faster but it makes my car swerve. So I slow down, pray and inch my way to the stop sign.
Sometimes we face overwhelming odds just to make it one block farther down the street. Sometimes we face overwhelming odds just to make it through another day. Just because no one else knows about our trials doesn't mean they don't exist. It just means that we're alone in our struggles. God never meant for us to be alone in our heartaches or in our joy. One snowflake melts quickly. Many snowflakes clinging together can stop traffic.
As I drive a little more, not so slippery, I look at the huge flakes. They seem to float directly toward me. For the first time in my life, it's as if I can see each one individually. It's true. No two snowflakes are the same. Beautiful and funny-looking at the same time, they make me laugh.
Then it hits me. It's like being inside a snow globe.
I'm insulated inside my car. Not really a part of the snowfall. But then my car starts sliding down a hill as another car approaches. I think in that two-second interval that stretches towards eternity, "I'm going to hit that car." But I pray again and my car slows to an almost-stop. Once again I'm thankful that God hears one-word prayers that start and end with "Help!"
Life in the snow globe is safe. The big cartoon flakes fall, but they don't make you slip. The air isn't cold. You don't lose your way. But you don't live, either. Step outside the snow globe and let Jesus make you real. Don't be a watcher. Don't be an insulated Christian who enjoys the beauty from afar but never steps into the mud, into the storm, into the rain, into the blizzards of life.
If you keep a safe distance from God, it doesn't matter how smart you are, how much money you make, how many friends you have, how big your house is, how beautiful or handsome you are, you'll always be an observer in life, not a participant.
Who do you think goes to Heaven? The self-proclaimed Christian who wears their faith and their belief on a chain around their neck but never lets it enter their hearts? Jewelry will not get you into Heaven even if it is in the shape of a cross. What about the person who talks about Jesus but never talks to Him?
Or the person who lives a life modeled after Jesus? She doesn't have much by this world's standards, but when others see her, they see a heart filled with Jesus. When they look into her eyes, they see Jesus looking back because in all she does, Jesus shines through. I have the honor and the privilege of being friends with several people who are exactly this way.
I wish I could say that I'm really writing about myself, but I'm not. I spend too much time inside the snow globe, seeing what's going on in the world around me but not being affected by it. There are many sad, lonely, hopeless people who need a kind word, a smile, a hug, a prayer. But most of all, they need to hear the Good News that Jesus loves them, forgives and wants them to be His children. We need to step outside the snow globe and tell them.
