A few years ago as I was driving into town, I noticed a section of land that had been clear cut. The scene was bleak and depressing; man’s impact on nature isn’t always a positive one. But, when I returned home, snow had fallen and this formerly forlorn area was now glistening and beautiful. I knew what lay underneath the snow, but the formerly rugged edges of fallen trees had been transformed into soft snow drifts. It was amazing. I wondered at how something so ugly could become so beautiful. And then it hit me. What I was seeing was a depiction of my heart before and after the covering of grace. Just as snow transforms a landscape, grace transforms a heart. I went home and wrote this poem to reflect this truth. I hope you find it rings true for you, too.
Snowflakes of Grace
I took a walk one wintry day and had a look around;
A landscape that once hailed her God was nowhere to be found.
The trees once standing tall and straight, lay scattered on the ground;
The creatures that once sang and chirped no longer made a sound.
On past the trees a patch of thorns had overcome a fence;
It too had fallen, worn from age, with weeds that were immense.
The thorns and thistles blocked my path, their branches were so dense;
I wondered at such lack of care and overt negligence.
Then as my footsteps found their way around this grove of pain;
The bleakness of this landscape grew as it began to rain.
My heart felt heavy, even sad, this walk had been in vain;
Instead of beauty, all I saw was nature’s great disdain.
Then suddenly, to my surprise, the rain turned into snow;
And as it fell, it blanketed a land of waste and woe.
Snow covered every broken limb; the land began to glow;
As softness covered brokenness, and beauty status-quo.
I stood awhile and watched the scene, in wonder and in awe;
Amazed at how a landscape changed, once touched by nature’s law.
Amazed at how the snow transformed a landscape that was raw;
Amazed at how my soul did leap to see all that I saw.
And then I knew this scene without did mirror one within;
As God revealed how flakes of grace had blanketed my sin.
My life had been a land of waste, till God’s light filtered in;
Once covered by His grace and love, my new life did begin.
Where thorny pride and weeds of doubt had tried to gain control;
God’s mercy came and firmly claimed my life, my heart, my soul.
Then grace fell fresh where sin had been, my life at last was whole;
And serving God, my Savior, Friend, became my pressing goal.
I took a walk one wintry day, and had a look within;
I marveled at the bleakness of my heart impaired by sin.
But then those flakes of grace came down and made a different scene;
A heart once desolate and scarred was now all white and clean.
