Wow! Even in the midst of cold shivers in a blizzard, we can marvel at the beauty and intricate design of what God has made. It escapes me how someone can look at snowflakes under magnification and not see this. The hexagonal shape and pattern is slightly different in each flake. The shape depends on many factors happening right at the boundary of the snowflake as it is forming. This includes the air temperature, humidity, wind, and interaction of other nearby snowflakes. Since each snowflake forms under slightly different conditions, each one is different—each one is uniquely beautiful.
Years ago, I heard of someone from a tropical environment who had visited the mountains and saw snow for the first time. Without even knowing of the intricate design and uniqueness of each snowflake, he was ecstatic. Why? For the first time the passage in Isaiah 1 became clear to him. “. . .though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. …” He had never seen snow, so he never knew how bright white it is. Now he knew just how cleansed he was.
Though I might prefer fall (see earlier blog), winter does have its high points among the low points of temperature. Let us all be ecstatic over not only the intricacies and detail of what God has made in each snowflake, but of what Jesus has done for us his work on the cross!
Dave Nutting
The snowflake pictures are from Wikipedia commons.
A selection of photographs taken by Wilson Bentley (1865–1931)