The Weight of a Snowflake

One cold morning in January, several years ago, I stood in a room decorated only with dry wall, inhaling paint fumes, and trying to ignore the growing fatigue in my arms as I painted a ceiling.  As I painted primer on drywall I couldn’t help but think, “What does this matter, it’s just paint, anyone could have done this”.  That morning in Ottawa, OH, it was easy to give up, thinking that it didn’t really matter.  I remember thinking “this is something the homeowner could do; they don’t really need me for this.”  I think it is easy for all of us to fall into this line of thinking.  We decide to not do something because we think it won’t make any difference, or it is just too big and overwhelming.  It doesn’t look like what we have to do or say will make any difference so we don’t see any reason to even try.

Unfortunately, this is an easy line of thinking to follow.  The challenge is that it is not true.  Every time I am tempted by this line of thinking I am reminded of a story I read in Bruce Larson’s book The Presence: The God Who Delivers and Guides.             

“One snowy night in the deep woods, a field mouse was talking to a wild dove.  It was one of those wonderful, windless nights with great, silent snowflakes falling.

“What are you doing?” asked the wild dove.

“I’m counting snowflakes,” answered the mouse.

“What is the weight of a snowflake?”

“Nothing – nothing.  The snowflake has no weight.  But let me tell you something.  I was sitting on a branch when the snow started, and I began to count the snowflakes that fell on my branch.  I had counted 3,176,432, when, suddenly, one more snowflake fell and the whole branch broke.”

In the same way, your voice may be the one to make a difference in the world.  That one snowflake weighs less than nothing but, added to what has gone before, a mighty branch may topple.  That mission you feared was hopeless may turn out to be possible after all.”

We really do make a difference, even if it is only the weight of a snowflake, because even the weight of a snowflake can have a huge impact.  One smile, one kind word, a commitment to pray for someone can make a tremendous difference even though we may not be able to see it right away, it adds up to something wonderful.  God is able to use us and what we have, no matter how small and insignificant we think it may be. 

Don’t be discouraged by thinking you can’t make a difference.  Don’t think that there is no reason to pray for someone, or reach out to someone, or go on a mission trip because it won’t matter anyway.  With God it all matters and can have a greater impact than you could have ever imagined.  God is able to use what we have and make it something amazing.  When you begin to think this way remember that even the weight of a snowflakes makes a difference and above all, never forget what Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

God bless, Rev. Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org