SnowMan(na)

 



We had snow here last week in Sumter for the first time this winter. The children were very excited, as Adam had been wanting snow and praying for it to come! It was a blessing for them to see the Lord answer their prayer even in something as simple as a desire to play in snow!! They made this snowman along with friends and family in the neighborhood where my brother lives. We gathered some of the snow to make snowcream~something my Moma had told us that she and my Granny made with snow when she was little too! This was the first time I had ever made it and it was very good! ( I love ice cream anyway! )  While I was eating it and looking out my kitchen window at the white snow covering the ground, something dawned on me. The snow the Lord sends is in many ways  like the Manna the children of Israel received in the wilderness !
 Snow is PURE, as was the Manna. Job refers to the pureness of snow in chapter 9:30. Even though snow is white, Manna was not. It was light yellow to amber, as stated in Numbers 11:9, or like a coriander seed. But, it did NOT  consist of anything impure or leaven. "Every good and perfect gift of from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.." James 1:17. The Isrealites had to grind it in mills or in a mortar, and bake it in pans, which tasted as wafers in honey, or sweet (Numbers 11:8, Exodus 31). Snow is pure as well, being frozen water from water vapor in the atmosphere. It can be mixed with sweetness also. We add sugar and milk to the snow, mixing it with sweet as they did!

Snow is PROVISION as was the Manna. The Lord provided the Manna to give bread to the people. It was necessary for their nourishment." But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19.  So is the snow for the earth. It is a part of the water cycle that God has established on the earth (Job 36:27 & 28). Plants, crops, and the ground all need water and moisture to keep them living, and provide us with water from rivers and streams, Job 38: 22-28.

Snow is PROTECTED as the Manna was. The Manna fell on the ground ONLY after the dew had already fallen for the night, into early morning, Numbers 11:9. This was part of the Lord's provision to keep it pure and clean from the soil so it could be using in cooking.  Snow falls upon the grass which kept it from the ground and soil in those areas where we could use the snow for our snowcream! The Lord is in the simplest detail of the blessings He bestows! How many do we not even realize everyday! " Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which are to us-ward; they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Psalm 40:5.

Lastly, Snow is perishable. Snow only stays around for as long as the conditions permit it to. Usually, in the South, it starts to melt as the sun comes through the clouds, unless the temperatures are below freezing. This is how long the Manna would last on the ground as well! "And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: AND WHEN THE SUN WAXED HOT, IT MELTED!" Exodus 16:21.  The blessing of Manna was available to the Israelites for a limited amount of time, and it was up to them to obey the command of the Lord to gather the set amount per person, to have what they needed. If we hadn't have gathered the snow before it started to melt, we would not have had Snowcream!

Snow is pure, provision, protected, and perishable. We are thankful for this beautiful creation from the Lord. I was blessed by it to be reminded from the Lord of how He takes care of His people, and how He answers our prayers.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18 So I ask you today...
 "HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW.....??" Job 38: 22