A fresh soft snow feels peaceful to me. It’s quiet and makes no noise falling to the ground. It’s pure, white, and clean. Snow brings different kinds of blessings to different people. If it’s a big snow, to kids it may bring the blessing of a day off school and the opportunity to go sledding or build a snowman. For me, the blessing reveals itself in the beauty it adds to the earth, and the refreshing cleanliness when it covers up the dirt, the grass, and whatever else it lands on.
As I’m writing this, snow is a long way behind as well as off in the future, and the weather is completely opposite of Winter snows. This past Winter we did not have a lot of snow where I live. But the memories of past snows are still a blessing. I can remember back to when I was a child and we were all snowed in our homes after a blizzard, waiting for snow plows to clear the road.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
God shines His face on us and pours down His blessings in spite of heat, snow, and other unfriendly weather conditions. He blesses us with food, clothing, shelter, friends, church, and so much more. He keeps us in the hollow of His hands. I often think He must have the biggest hands possible to keep us in the palm of His hands, but I’d rather think of Him as so big rather than too small. God is gracious to us as He pours out His loving care on us even when we blow it and turn our backs on Him. He watches us carefully to keep us in line. He looks into our face and sees the concerns, the emotions, the hurt, and whatever else is there, but He doesn’t walk away and desert us. He is right there waiting for us to call on Him for help with those things that are present in our lives.
The blessing of peace is when peace comes just when you need it and reminds you He is near. At times when I’ve struggled with some issue or have been sick, it is such a blessing to get a text, a phone call, an email, or a card in the mail letting me know that someone is thinking about me and praying for me. It’s then that I think to myself or tell that person I needed that today! Through other people God shows me that He is near. He prompts them to send me a message of love saying that I matter to them and to Him.
When you’re having a bad day and someone contacts you with a word of encouragement, that’s a blessing of peace. Take a moment and thank them and God for it. You never know when the next blessing will come, but I kind of think that if we remember to be thankful for them, they just might come a little more often. Humanly speaking, the more appreciative a person is of an act of kindness, the more likely we are to do something for them again soon.
Think for a minute in reverse, if you will. If not one person ever got in touch with you or did anything for you, wouldn’t it cause you to feel lonely? So when someone does something nice for you, it can remind you that God is near and is acting through that person. Obviously God is near whether we realize it or not, but we need that audible and visible reminder that He is near and He uses people to make us aware of His presence.
So today be a blessing of peace to someone who may need encouragement or assistance of some kind, and if you are the person in need, reach out and allow God’s people to come alongside you and be a blessing to you.