Except for a few remaining dirty piles of snow here and there, the trace of the blizzard of 2016 is almost all gone. Looking at the roads in front of my house, it’s hard to believe they were once covered with up to 36 inches of snow, trapping my entire family inside for 5 days. I enjoy living in a single house on a quiet cul-de-sac except when a monster snow storm hits and the VDOT trucks visit your neighborhood last! I had to use a vacation day because I couldn’t go in to work. Finally I made an arrangement for Pastor Eugene to pick me up at the nearest plowed road. Imagine how ecstatic I was when I heard the beeping sound of the plow truck later that night!
I am sure everyone has a story or two to share about the blizzard of 2016. As much as I desperately wanted to be set free from my ‘house arrest’, I do have to admit I enjoyed the valuable time I got to spend with my family. Thank God we had food (lots of it!) and electricity to keep us warm and entertained. We even got to play a fun board game called Sequence!
The VA Campus was closed altogether because of the unplowed parking lot. My family had our own family worship and was greatly inspired by one of Francis Chan’s Youtube messages. I was supposed to preach that Sunday so I had a sermon ready, but I would have felt awkward preaching to just my own family, especially with our dog sitting there as well! My husband and I also joined the KC Service being broadcast live from the MD Campus via internet. I was indeed thankful to those who ventured out in the snow to make the live broadcast possible. Rev. Dae Young Kim, the KC Senior Pastor, had to walk to the nearest plowed road to be picked up by one of the elders. No one would have complained had he decided to close the church, but he has emphasized the importance of the corporate Sunday Worship all along, and he was determined to ‘walk the talk.’
The church service being affect by the blizzard reminded me of the conversion story of Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest British preachers of the 19th century. Though he grew up in a Christian home, he always struggled with his salvation. He felt condemned by God. One winter Sunday morning, the 15-year-old Spurgeon left home to go to church, but due to a major snow storm, he had to take a detour onto a side street. There he entered a small church to escape the snow storm. Only a handful of people were sitting inside, and an unknown substitute preacher nervously stepped into the pulpit and read his text, Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
What happened next was recorded in Spurgeon’s Autobiography as follows:
“He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate except his text.… Then I had this vision—not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what a Savior Christ was.… Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment.”
The sovereign God had orchestrated the events of that day to deliver Spurgeon from his misery and call him as his instrument for the next 40 years. We serve the same amazing God. Whether we are going through a monstrous snow storm in life or enjoying a warm sunny day, we should remember “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
From Pastor Sara’s Heart
February 7, 2016