Thoughts on the Snowstorm

An epic snowstorm had been predicted.

It would be better, we were told, to just stay home and stay off the roads, so the church service was canceled. But the storm delayed, and by early Sabbath afternoon, the ground at our house remained dry. Finally, it did begin to snow, but the ground was warm, and the snow soon melted. But by early evening, my husband, Jerry, was shoveling a couple of inches off the driveway. During the night, it continued to snow.

On Sunday morning, Jerry took a picture of the ten inches of snow that covered everything on our deck. He sent the picture to our kids.

“Wow,” they responded, “that is really pretty!” Well, I thought, I guess you can say that living in warm, sunny California! The snow kept falling.

Jerry saw on Facebook where people had lost power—his niece in a nearby town, his cousin on the farm. But we were fine in a warm home with electricity.

At about eight thirty Sunday evening, I was taking a shower when the lights suddenly went out. Darkness! We had a large lantern, but it had no oil in it.

Another small lantern was low on oil. The flashlight needed batteries.

And where were those candles and matches? We were told this storm was coming—why was I not better prepared? Surely the electricity would come back on soon.

But it did not. Early Monday morning, while the house was still dark and quite cold, I had plenty of time to think. Jesus told a parable about ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come. But the bridegroom delayed. Five had oil in their lamps and were ready when he came. But five needed oil and missed the bridegroom’s coming.

I thought of the text, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40, NIV).

The text does not say to get ready. It says to be ready.

Once again, I was reminded of how important it is to spend time daily with Jesus, to be ready and waiting for His coming.

The lesson this snowstorm taught me was a good one, after all!

Sharon Oster