ice, ice baby...sanctification on ice

We had a good snow/ice/rain storm yesterday and this morning every thing was covered in a thin sheet of ice. So before I dropped my kids off at daycare I chopped ice at the neighbors house and put down ice-melt and sand at my house.  I chopped the thick ice, melted the thin ice and put sand on my steps because they are concrete pavers and ice-melt makes them crumble (learned that lesson the hard way).

On the way home I drove past a kid walking to school doing the skate-walk-shuffle. Some walks were clear, some where not. Not judging anyone, just saying what was.

As I passed the him the verse "Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand"(Psalm 37:24) came to mind. I like this translation from the ESV. It doesn't say we won't slip, or stumble, it says we won't bash our heads!

God does allow the ice in this world but we are given the grace and power to deal with it.  Jesus prayed that we would be safe in this world, not removed from it.

Some things God needs  to break, the thick ice, (our hardened hearts, habititual sin) via the power of the Holy Spirit.  Once the thick ice is broken we are left with the thinner ice. This breaks up easier because it isn't attached to the driveway. Resentment, lust, greed and the like can be melted after the thick heart has been chipped away.

And then there are things that need the gentle sand, a protective covering that lets us get a solid grip and foundation while we walk on top of the underlying danger.

We are all ice, ice baby  as we await the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some are in the process of being chipped, others are being salted and some are being gently sanded. Where are you? How long have you been there? Are you craving the ice to finally go away?

Ice, ice, baby. We're all in this world together.
b