Icy Jewels

Job 38:30

The waters are hid as with a stone,

and the face of the deep is frozen.

Every winter I'm amazed to see the great mounds of ice that build up on Lake Erie.  Just a few short months ago I watched the kids swim and skip rocks across the lake.  Today, frigid winds scurry snow devils across the surface, and jagged pieces of ice protrude from the pressure of the water freezing underneath.  All of the warmth and pleasure of the lake is hidden.

Just like the lake, so many things in life get hidden beneath a crust created by time, circumstances, or misunderstanding.  If we had the power to see beneath the obvious, we might evoke warm, pleasurable, and unexpected results.  Would it take the chill out of the relationship between a mother and daughter, if mama realized she will be a better parent because of that wayward daughter.  Would the teacher feel less frazzled to realize it's not the "A" student who makes her a great teacher?  Would a pastor wish for a congregation of compliant saints if he knew he'd never fully develop his ministry?

You see, we get caught up in looking at the hard, unforgiving, and uncomfortable face of things as they are today.  When circumstances and people in our lives make it "hard," we tend to judge them undesirable.  But beneath those frigid mounds standing in the way of pleasure and ease, vital changes are being made.  And just like Lake Erie, we'll be changed... changed for the better.  We'll be more understanding parents, teacher's who've created inovative methods for reaching the struggling student, and ministers with greater compassion, patience and understanding.  Could it be those undesirable things and people in life are icy jewels in reality?