Remember Winter Storm Jonas. Well, as fun as snow can be, the tough part is always the snow removal. Shoveling walkways, driveways, and the clean up, always comes with the territory. Yet – while some are sledding and building snowmen, others are enduring the pain of shoveling those driveways and walkways. My back certainly paid the price for shoveling my driveway, and a few other driveways as well.

Life can be this way. A huge storm of difficulty makes its way in and falls upon our lives, and while people around you are having fun, blissfully throwing snowballs, and all the rest – you endure the pain of dealing with the fall-out. We have all experienced this reality in one form or another. However, there are two ways to look at these circumstances.

When storms come, and it is our responsibility to deal with the ‘clean up’, we can become stressed, resentful, even bitter. Especially when we see others around us, having a blast & completely unaffected by the 6 trillion tons of snow we’re trying to remove, equally, for their benefit.

OR

When storms come, you can embrace the responsibility of dealing with the clean up and do it with a heart of love, thanksgiving and blessing. How is this possible? By first recognizing that if you’re the one with the shovel in your hand, it is God that has placed that spirit of excellence upon your heart and mind. That shovel didn’t ‘magically’ appear in your hand. If your holding it, it is because the goodness and grace of God was operating in your heart, leading you to be the one to take that burden upon yourself for the sake of your loved ones – and – those in whom your efforts are going to bless. And you picked up that shovel, knowing the labor that was in front of you, and all the pain and difficulty it would entail. In other words – YOU ROCK!!

I suppose it’s like an old business saying – ‘It’s not your aptitude, but the altitude of your attitude that matters.’

The Good News is, when you’re in a daily, growing and personal relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ, every storm, no matter how severe, and all it’s residual affects, will all eventually melt away with the warmth, guidance, power, and blessing – of the ‘SON’.

Jesus is the Son of God, and all storms, no matter how severe, will always melt away in His presence. Remember, the biggest storm in human history was the raging storm and horrendous pile up of our sins! And that Cross Jesus picked up was the biggest shovel, and the most painful, difficult clean up job EVER to grace the face of this earth!

‘While I built snowmen, dying in my sin, Jesus paid the price, so my true life could begin.’

Share a storm clean up testimony with us.