He gives snow like wool: He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, David wrote in Psalm 147:16 (KJV). The wonder of snow has intrigued man long before Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen sang their enchanting version of Snow in White Christmas. There is something equally as enchanting about the first snow of winter. It’s so new and pure and soft. Except for an occasional Ebenezer Scrooge, almost no one can look at new-fallen snow, in all its beauty and brilliance, and condemn it. Matthew Henry comments that “He (God) giveth snow like wool. It is compared to wool for its whiteness (Isaiah 1:18), and its softness; it falls silently, and makes no more noise than the fall of a lock of wool; it covers the earth, and keeps it warm like a fleece of wool, and so promotes its fruitfulness.”
God sends the snow, and it starts and stops according to His bidding. It came rapidly and heavily recently, as a major snowstorm hit and blanketed our area like a giant fleece of wool. When my car slid sideways down the driveway, I wasn’t thinking about the snow’s brilliant whiteness or how silently it fell to the ground. Very quickly I had to change from summer driving mentality to winter crisis-driving mentality! The thing about snow is that it often comes quickly, and it’s easy to be caught unaware (and unprepared!) by it.
As a child, I can’t remember ever being unprepared for snow. My siblings and I always had boots, snow pants, hats, jackets, gloves, etc. available for a day of playing in the snow. A most memorable occasion was when my brother, John, and his friends built an igloo in our front yard. Even though I was younger than the “big boys”, I got to crawl inside the igloo, and it was magical. It never occurred to me that someone had the forethought to keep me warm with snow gear, or that hot chocolate and toast would be waiting for us when we were done building a snowman or sled-riding.
Proverbs 31:21 says, She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. Again, Matthew Henry comments on this verse, “She also gets good warm clothing for her children, and her servants' liveries. She needs not fear the cold of the most pinching winter, for she and her family are well provided with clothes, sufficient to keep out cold, which is the end chiefly to be aimed at in clothing: All her household are clothed in scarlet, strong cloth and fit for winter, and yet rich and making a good appearance. They are all double clothed (so some read it), have change of raiment, a winter suit and a summer suit.”
Although it is very important that parents—particularly mothers, according to Proverbs—see to it that their children are properly clothed and cared for physically, it is even more important that they see to it that their children are securely covered and protected from the cold harshness of the attacks of Satan, for he preys on the most vulnerable members of our families. Ridicule, abuse, and bullying easily leave a child “out in the cold” emotionally, and the warmest covering we can put on them is the love of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. My mother comforted me every night when she said a simple prayer before I went to sleep. The warmth and safety I felt from that were better than the finest snowsuit or warmest down jacket.
Enjoy the snow—the cold, soft, beautiful, pure snow. But when coldness blows over the soul, know just as readily how to warm it up within yourself and within those you love.