God’s touch in a snowflake
God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain, serves as a sign on everyone’s hand, so that all whom he has made may know it.–Job 37: 5-7 (NRSV)
When the snowflakes began to fall very lightly a few days ago, there was a trickle here and a trickle there; before long, the white stuff was every where! The muted greenish-brown earth colors became a magnificent match for the white snow that fell like drops of rain. The touch of God, as Creator, was at work! Solid evidence of his existence!
I’ve heard it said that no two-snow crystals are exactly alike. No doubt, modern science has given proof with high-resolution photomicrographic equipment in sophisticated laboratories just about anywhere around the globe. In an attempt to discover the formation of ice crystals on a regular basis, scientific research has so far proved that ice crystals or snowflakes are composed of simple, repeated internal patterns that produce beautiful, external shapes. And built into the laws that govern ice crystal growth patterns are temperature dependencies that produce various forms
such as: column shapes, needle shapes, plate shapes, stellar shapes, and a myriad of possible combinations of millions of individual molecules that make up a single ice crystal. Even though there are distinctive differences, each of the crystals appear to formulate a hexagonal pattern with six corners.
In a simpler fashion, snowflakes are relatively small designs that would hardly cover the size of a peanut or the diameter of a fingernail. On the other hand, check this out!
Since God knows that since every snowflake /crystal is uniquely different, then each one has a name! Wouldn’t you agree? Now, think for a moment about the accumulation of snow that has fallen simultaneously at specific times and places all over the world. Let me ask you, how many individual snowflakes could you name? Let me tell you, it would be humanly impossible – but not with God. You see, He already knows. Isn’t that amazing? How wonderful it is to know that God knows you and I by name.
Job 37: 5-7 is actually a series of speeches [Job 32 through Job 37]of a young man’s perspective to an older one’s view regarding God’s divine control over humans as well as the natural world. Elihu is speaking to Job who had experienced some tremendous setbacks – the lost of family members and personal property. A cadre of three friends gathers to console and advise him. They supposedly had all the right answers for his condition. Elihus enters the picture and expands on God’s power in nature without abandoning his theme of divine instruction. He insisted that Job is far inferior to a powerful God. Elihu asks questions in the same way, as would Yahweh [Job 38 through Job 41]: “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?”(38:22) From this particular question, God is to be seen to have all the forces of nature at his command and that he can unleash or restrain them at will. No one completely understands such common occurrences as snow or rain, and no one can command them- only God who created them has that power. God’s point of view was that if Job could not explain such common events in nature, how could he possibly explain or question God?
The Message/Remix version of Job 37:5-7 gives a slightly different look from the NRSV: He lets out all the stops. He holds nothing back. No one can mistake his voice- his word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth’ and the rain, ’Soak the countryside!’ No one can escape the weather- it’s there. “His mighty acts staggering our understanding” just might serve as a way to appreciate the mysteries of nature as a whole but specifically God’s touch in a snowflake. Selah.
God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain, serves as a sign on everyone’s hand, so that all whom he has made may know it.–Job 37: 5-7 (NRSV)
When the snowflakes began to fall very lightly a few days ago, there was a trickle here and a trickle there; before long, the white stuff was every where! The muted greenish-brown earth colors became a magnificent match for the white snow that fell like drops of rain. The touch of God, as Creator, was at work! Solid evidence of his existence!
I’ve heard it said that no two-snow crystals are exactly alike. No doubt, modern science has given proof with high-resolution photomicrographic equipment in sophisticated laboratories just about anywhere around the globe. In an attempt to discover the formation of ice crystals on a regular basis, scientific research has so far proved that ice crystals or snowflakes are composed of simple, repeated internal patterns that produce beautiful, external shapes. And built into the laws that govern ice crystal growth patterns are temperature dependencies that produce various forms
such as: column shapes, needle shapes, plate shapes, stellar shapes, and a myriad of possible combinations of millions of individual molecules that make up a single ice crystal. Even though there are distinctive differences, each of the crystals appear to formulate a hexagonal pattern with six corners.In a simpler fashion, snowflakes are relatively small designs that would hardly cover the size of a peanut or the diameter of a fingernail. On the other hand, check this out!
Since God knows that since every snowflake /crystal is uniquely different, then each one has a name! Wouldn’t you agree? Now, think for a moment about the accumulation of snow that has fallen simultaneously at specific times and places all over the world. Let me ask you, how many individual snowflakes could you name? Let me tell you, it would be humanly impossible – but not with God. You see, He already knows. Isn’t that amazing? How wonderful it is to know that God knows you and I by name.
Job 37: 5-7 is actually a series of speeches [Job 32 through Job 37]of a young man’s perspective to an older one’s view regarding God’s divine control over humans as well as the natural world. Elihu is speaking to Job who had experienced some tremendous setbacks – the lost of family members and personal property. A cadre of three friends gathers to console and advise him. They supposedly had all the right answers for his condition. Elihus enters the picture and expands on God’s power in nature without abandoning his theme of divine instruction. He insisted that Job is far inferior to a powerful God. Elihu asks questions in the same way, as would Yahweh [Job 38 through Job 41]: “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?”(38:22) From this particular question, God is to be seen to have all the forces of nature at his command and that he can unleash or restrain them at will. No one completely understands such common occurrences as snow or rain, and no one can command them- only God who created them has that power. God’s point of view was that if Job could not explain such common events in nature, how could he possibly explain or question God?
The Message/Remix version of Job 37:5-7 gives a slightly different look from the NRSV: He lets out all the stops. He holds nothing back. No one can mistake his voice- his word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth’ and the rain, ’Soak the countryside!’ No one can escape the weather- it’s there. “His mighty acts staggering our understanding” just might serve as a way to appreciate the mysteries of nature as a whole but specifically God’s touch in a snowflake. Selah.
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