It was a bright, sunny day as I drove into town. As the day progressed, the brightness slowly started to fade, and clouds started rolling in. The sun vanished and was replaced by heavy snowfall and developing winds. All of a sudden, I couldn't see anything. I was totally blinded by the whiteness all around me: a snow squall.

Snow squalls are caused when arctic air moves over a large expanse of warmer, open water in winter, causing convective clouds with heavy snow showers to develop, due to the large amount of moisture available. Usually these snow squalls don't last too long, but it is during such squalls that we literally can't see a thing.

This incident made me think of the many different trials that each of us has gone through or will face someday. When the doctor told me that my husband had had a mini-stroke during his surgery, at first, I was shocked by what I had heard. At that moment, I couldn't see beyond what was said. My mind stopped working, and my ears automatically stopped listening when I heard the word "stroke". I couldn't focus on the healing process and the time that it was going to take. I was in a state of hopelessness. But the doctors told me that, like snow squalls, eventually things will get back to some form of normalcy.

Yet, for many who are suffering from a disability, an injury, or an incurable illness, their situation is not going to change. However, in the light of eternity, our trials and tribulations of this world are only temporary, and we focus on the hope that, in Christ, ultimately things will get better.

Philippians 3:20-21 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (NASB)

2 Corinthians 4:18 – We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (NASB)

Prayer: Father God, help us to trust and believe that You are with us in our blindness and in our feelings of hopelessness. Remind us, as You often do, that like snow squalls and thunderstorms, life's setbacks are only temporary, and that ultimately, in Christ, things will get better for each and every one of us. Amen.

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About the author:

Rosemary Hagedorn <rosyhagedorn@gmail.com>
Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada
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