Whiteout

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Whiteout Isaiah 1:18 Hebrews 9:25-28 Once again, my God did not disappoint. Like a little girl again, I dashed to the front window and threw back the curtains. Even as an adult I rush to the window the morning after a forecasted snowfall. Now it’s not so much that I’m wanting to head out and build a snowman or make a snow angel (though I do still close my eyes and catch snowflakes on my tongue…) and it’s most definitely not a desire to shovel, but more to breathe in the beauty of it all. I made my way to my usual window seat to take it all in. I feel it’s important for us to create that special quiet place to connect. Self-awareness. Self-healing. Contemplation. A place of peace. A place to connect with the One who created us. A place to pray. This is my place of peace. Feeling my hands warming from a steaming cup of coffee, I sat and sipped in perfect peace. It wasn’t long before my plump beagle, Dunkin’, took a seat beside me. I can always count on him to join me as he loves to put his head on the window sill and wait for the birds to come to the feeder. There we sat, taking it all in. I marveled at the beauty of the icicles hanging from the trees much like ornaments on a Christmas tree. I giggled a little as a vision came to my mind. I could vividly see God bending down to me as I slept. Just at the break of dawn when the first sunbeams burst through the darkness. His face close to mine, He watched as I slept. Should I wake her, He thought to Himself. Nah, I’ll let her sleep, He mused. She’s a bit cranky with less than seven hours’ sleep. Back in His Heavenly home, He pondered a bit. God was up to something. (Isn’t He always?) With a smile, He stretched out His arms and halted the snowfall. With head tossed back and a hearty laugh, His hands began to smooth out the fresh fallen snow. Much like a child excited to ice a freshly baked caked, His hands went back and forth swirling the snow, ever mindful to create for me the little meringue peaks He knows I love so much in the snow. With dancing eyes, He commanded His angels to bring forth the finishing touch! The sprinkles, of course! The beautiful glimmering diamond dust that glistens atop the snow. He then bent down and softly kissed my forehead. There He waited like a parent excited to surprise a child with a gift to open. To this day I can recall this magical moment in my mind. Does it really happen this way? We don’t know. I’d like to think that it does! These little unexpected gifts created just for us. A sunrise, sunset. A double rainbow. Gifts galore if we take time to look around. Dunkin’ and I sat together as the birds arrived for their breakfast. One by one they eventually took flight, most likely headed to the neighbor’s bird feeder to see what she was serving up. Ready to start the day, I stood up. Then I saw him. The most beautiful male cardinal flew in alone. I slowly sat back down. His late arrival made my heart sing for joy. Now, seeing this may not be a big deal for some, but it was for me. I had been waiting since my Mother passed a few months prior to see a cardinal — a sure sign we are told that a loved one has come to visit. Until now I’ve had only the delicate glass ornament with a handpainted cardinal on it (my sister-in-law gave this to me at Christmas, and I cherish it) to admire. Rare to see a cardinal in my yard. I’ve witnessed this in the past with loved ones gone, but months later I was still waiting. “Hello, Mom,” I whispered softly. “It’s about time you showed up!” How beautiful he was. What I did not know was that he was about to reveal his marvelous true beauty to me. He took a little step off the feeder and with outstretched wings, he seemed to float to the snowy ground below. The stark contrast of his scarlet color against the brilliant white snow was simply dazzling. Apart, these two colors are striking but together, they are exquisite indeed. Perfect. I recall trying to figure out which color was more pronounced. The red? The white? It was difficult. It was obvious at that moment to me that the two belonged together. He quickly flew away, however, when my husband flung open the kitchen door to assess the plowing situation. Once outside he and I went to work. I shovel the deck and he plows the driveway. If you come to my house in winter, you will find my front sidewalks are not shoveled. Not because we do not use the front door but because I don’t like to disturb the smoothness of the snow (is anyone else like this?) My family knows firsthand that I grumble when the dogs go prancing around the front yard leaving little paw prints and holes in the snow. As well, my family knows I grumble even more when the pups leave “treats” on the snow. We call them “poopsicles” at my house. Yes, I have been known to go out and shovel new snow over them or to relocate them to one area out of sight just to make the yard appear more pristine. One thing I despise is dirty snow. I am not fond of the dirty snow along the sides of the roads. Once white snow now dingy and mixed with dirt and cinders. Well, it’s sort of like the snow just isn’t … as pure anymore. Later in the day I ventured back to my window seat to rest. I scowled at the new pile of dirty snow my husband heaped near the bird feeder. I was thankful, of course, for his plowing; but I now had to view this dirty snow from my favorite spot. A few birds had come back to the feeder for a mid-afternoon snack. I barely noticed them. My focus was on the dirty snow. I perked back up, however, when my cardinal came back - this time with a female. Something happened, however, this time when he floated to the snow below. Imagine my horror and shock when he landed on ... you guessed it … the DIRTY snow. I stared intently. Would he move? Does he despise dirty snow like I do? Once I really focused though, I realized I did not notice the dirty snow at all. His vivid red color seemed to obliterate the dirt beneath him. His bold red color was all I could see. I contemplated this for some time. I would shift my gaze to the snow and then back to him. Each time, while focused on the snow, I would still see the bright red. While focused on the red – I would not see the dirt at all. Where is the dirty snow in our lives? We all have some. As much as we are told to “forget” about it and try to move on, we are always searching for ways to cover, hide and bury it. Past failures, mistakes and sins. Satan will whisper in our ear that no matter what, they will always be present. Always separating us from the love of God. He will have us believe we are unforgivable and destined to Hell even. So why wait, he says, to join him in Hell when we can join him now? He works overtime in our heads to dredge up offenses. We then worry we cannot be forgiven and that we are separated from God forever. Father of lies is what the Bible calls him. When this happens, shout back Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV) reminds us, “I , even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and I will not remember your sins.” Need more ammo? Try this … 1 John 1:19 tells us this, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We are told as well that He will cast our sins from Him as far as the East is from the West. Comforting promises, are they not? His Word is full of Scriptures promising to redeem, forgive and love us despite our sins. He is a God capable of blotting out past mistakes and better yet, choosing to not recall them. I love how Joel Osteen sums this up in a devotional book he published…. “If God chooses to remember our sins no more…then why do we?” So, just how is God able to do this? We ask ourselves. Does He have some kind of spiritual “white-out?” We know white-out as that marvelous little white bottle of white goo that covers mistakes. With just a small swipe of the special brush, mistakes are eliminated and a new space appears. Voila’!! God’s spiritual white-out for our lives is not white. It’s actually red. Yes–red. The innocent blood shed on the cross for all of us–God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, took our place on the cross. It was the only way. God knew it. Jesus knew it. Someone had to pay and God loves us so much He gave up something He loved to seal our eternity. What or who on this Earth loves us this much? Nothing. Nobody. The sacrifice of love was the atonement (the white-out) to cover our sins. It should have been us. Jesus burdened the sin of the entire world past, present and future and bore it on His shoulders on that cross. Head, heart and hands pierced. Especially His heart. So much so that, for a moment in time, He cried out to His Father asking why He was abandoned. He was alone. He did it though. So we wouldn’t have to. As believers in Christ, we are assured our debt has been paid, a ransom satisfied, and a deposit made to secure us to God. We belong. I recently had the pleasure of reading a manuscript written by a local author. I have to say I am forever changed. I look at things a little differently. My favorite parts are God and Jesus head to head talking to each other. God tells Him that something has to be done for the sin of the world. Jesus tells His Father to send Him - that He knows it’s the only way. Imagine this moment - Father and Son. So Jesus is born into this world as our Saviour. My favorite sentence in this book is, “Alone on the cross, He drained every drop.” When I partake now of communion, I am reminded of this. Tipping my head back further than I ever have before, I am intent on getting every last drop of this precious sacrifice for me. Why would we ever waste such a gift?! It also reminds us in the book that Jesus “willingly poured out His life until death” (Isaiah 53:12). His red blood shed will always be enough to cover us. If we will just accept it. God chooses to forgive and forget - He does expect something from us. A true, heartfelt confession and recognition of our sins spoken from our heart/lips or both. Asking Jesus into our heart and life forever is mandatory - no one goes to the Father except through His Son Jesus. Do this. Do it today. Don’t put this off. Tears may be shed as you confess and ask Jesus in - God will know your true heart and will capture every tear. He then will use them to cleanse you. So let God use His white-out in your life. The Bible tells us that when we repent of our sins and, more importantly, accept His Son into our lives, then our name is written in the Book of Life forevermore. Once in this book, our names are never removed, Jesus tells us. Not even the best white-out will remove us. Peace, Janet
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