Snowflakes of Grace

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.