Living in Alabama we get very few snow events, maybe one or two a year at the most. A significant snow will be anything an inch or more. Once this occurs, or if the weathermen on all the stations get together and say it is going to occur, schools let out and it officially becomes a “snow day.” One of the last big snow events that happened a couple of years ago, the family all got to stay home. We went outside and built a snowman. I think it was a hobbit snowman, it was very short and the snow removed around its feet displayed the mud and grass. Once our fingers and toes got froze and we could not take anymore, we came inside and warmed ourselves by the heater, drank hot chocolate, ate snow cream, then took naps.

John 12:24
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

When Jesus called his disciples, I do not think they understood what they were getting into. He came by and simply called out “come follow me”. I think it was part curiosity and part the inward feeling of the Spirit drawing them. They followed a man who had no home, could quote the Hebrew Law, taught in the temple, could heal the blind, cast out demons and did not condemn sinners. Even though they did not totally get it, they did recognize that He was the Son of God. Things progressively got bad. The religious leaders were jealous and there were continual plots to bring Jesus down. Then, after an evening of fellowship and close communion, the drama started unfolding. Jesus was arrested. Peter fought at first, but then slipped into the shadows. Judas hanged himself out of guilt and grief. There is really no narrative in scripture as to where the other disciples went or what they were thinking. Then the next day they all watched Jesus bleeding, dying on a cross, and then giving up His last breath. It had to run through each of their minds, “why did I follow this man”?
There were no greeting cards at the drug store that anyone could buy to make them feel better. No poems about one set of footprints in the sand, nothing but silence.

Psalms 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

I know there are a lot of verses in the Bible that give comfort during times of trouble, but in the course of human events, there are times when we feel all alone. We feel like our prayers just fall to the floor the minute they are spoken then evaporate. We feel all hope is gone. Depression or lack of faith, whatever you call it, we reach the bottom, where there is absolutely nothing left. Our soul is empty and all we experience from God is silence, silence that is deafening. Darkness so black we can’t see the next day, loneliness so real we can hear ourselves breathe. We have no reason to get up, no reason to go to bed and we wonder, where is God?
If we look at the great artists of the past, one thing we will recognize is that they took their time when they painted the great masterpieces. The most reproduced and recognized religious painting in the world is “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. It took him around three years to paint the 15ft x 29ft painting. The “Mona Lisa,” another well-known painting, took around four years; da Vinci could picture in his mind what he wanted from the beginning, he had to work the detail through art, using the right brush strokes, making sure the shades of color were right, this all took time.

2 Samuel 23:20
Benaiah son of Jehoiada …went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
Benaiah’s name means “God built.” God had a special purpose for his life. Benaiah was to be a body guard for King David and also for David’s son, King Solomon. Benaiah would become one of the many brave men surrounding King David, helping him fight many battles. In order for him to have the necessary skills for this job, Benaiah needed to be proved, so he could gain confidence for the fights ahead.

Matthew 5:11
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sometimes sermons in our day reflect that, if we are living for God and going to church like we should, the road ahead is paved with soft flowers. We are sometimes told if we really live in God’s favor, everything will just fall into place. You would think if this lesson is true, Benaiah would have an easy road and that every battle would have already been “fought and won” and so on. Well, that is not the real world. We cannot all ride in a pink Cadillac or gain wealth by sending in $100.00 to our favorite TV preacher. The road of a true follower of Christ is sometimes hard. We are all called to suffer for what we believe in. We have to sometimes make choices when we feel God’s leading, choices that will cost us comfort.
Benaiah traveled on a wet, cold, snowy day into a pit, and killed a lion. When you break it down and think about it, he had to be one bad dude. We are not talking about a “snow day” with hot chocolate, naps and snow cream, We are talking a hike through the cold snow, where you have to double or triple your normal effort, then crawl into a pit, to face a lion. This story is where the rubber meets the road; the story is about faith, about resolve, about looking adversity in the eye. He had to want that lion on that day.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Sometimes we have to experience the rock-bottom of a situation to bring us to the point of feeling so much pain that it motivates us to change. Then, at that point, even if it is snowing, raining or whatever, we will have the determination that the “lion” has to be killed. We have to stop whining, stop wondering “why God” and just start walking through the snow. Climb down into that pit and kill the lion. We have to find that deep down faith. The faith that even though we do not “feel God” we know He is somehow there, leading us through the valley. Faith is like that, that is why it is called “faith”.

James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

King David would have been killed several times if it had not been for his bodyguards,
There were no shortcuts for Benaiah. God built him tough for a purpose. It would be the same toughness and resolve that the disciples needed to get them through the trial and death of their Savior. The silence after Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion turned into joy the morning of the resurrection, then to power at the feast of Pentecost. The same disciples that were afraid and stayed in the shadows before were preaching with power and conviction when they came out of the upper room. Our struggles in life make us who we are. Our darkest times fade when we begin to understand God’s greater purpose. In the three or four years it took da Vinci to paint those masterpieces, there were weeks at a time he left them alone just so the paint could dry and he could see the true shades of color. God sometimes lets us, His masterpiece, alone for the shades of colors in us to form and dry.
God allows our struggles, so we will have the endurance and strength to face the lions, even on snowy days.