Storms, names, and lions.

It’s is 100^th day of school. Students are 100 days smarter. Teachers are 100 days crazier.

Little did I know that they would announce A Teacher’s Dream: early dismissal. The snow is coming. Actually the storm is coming- and it even has a name: Leon.

It’s kinda funny how they name storms. These poor storms are given a bad rap even before they hit the earth. They are personified in the same way we label ax murders and burglars. This “deadly” storm “assaults” and “slams the south”, “snarls traffic” “leaves thousands stranded,” “roars through the southern United States,” and  “brings disaster”. It’s a “nightmare” out there apparently. Well, just dress him up in orange, snap a mug shot, throw him in jail, and call it a day folks.

But I’m just not seeing it. Outside my window, gorgeous, gentle, peaceful snowflakes are floating to the ground creating a blanket of white. This is an assault? a slam? a nightmare?

Perspective. I’m sure I could ask the husband who made in home in 7.5 hours in bumper to bumper Atlanta traffic or the lady who had her baby on side of 285 and they would agree with the weather man’s description of Leon. Perspective- it’s pretty important. Just as important as a name.

A quick google search tells me that “Leon is the Greek word for “lion,” the most famous of which in Greek mythology is Leon Nemeois, a nearly indestructible beast who terrorized the people of Argolis.”

A name is so important. We’ve lost a bit of that reverence for the importance of names as a society, but I am intrigued to find it’s important in the naming of storms.

I’ve been reading through Genesis in this Online Bible Study which goes through the whole bible chronologically in a year. In the Bible, names are so incredibly significant. They are prophetic, they are true, they are though-out. They even change.

See, there’s this old man way back in Genesis named Abram. His wife is barren and way, way past the age of child-bearing, but God makes a covenant promise with him and says, “I will make you into a great nation and give you this land.” So God changes his name to Abraham meaning father of many. Even though Abraham does some pretty shady things, God remains by his side and renews his covenant though his son and grandson. His grandson is named Jacob, which means deceiver. And well, he does some pretty shady things too. But God was still working in these sinful people to one day bring a Redeemer. Jacob wrestles with God one night and God changes his name of Israel, which means He who prevails with God. This man has 12 children and they become the twelve tribes of Israel. One of those sons is Judah, meaning praise. Israel blesses each son and to Judah he says,

“You are a lion’s cub, Judah, you return from the prey my son… The scepter will not depart form Judah… until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” (Genesis 49:8-12).

Ok, stay with me here. From the line of Judah comes King David and ultimately Christ, who is the last and final king of the tribe of Judah.

God gives himself many names too- over 200. Each name tells us something about who He is. Jesus has lots of names too- one being The Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

A lion. Lions overcome prey. Jesus did overcome the enemy.

Like storm Leon. Jesus assaulted death, slammed sadness, snarled darkness, roared at brokenness, and  covered sin in a beautiful, white blanket.

But His disciples probably weren’t seeing it that day 2,000 years ago. It looked like The Lion was being assaulted, slammed, and covered.

God knew who would win though. He knew that what looked like cold, harsh darkness closing in was actually bringing a blanket of white to cover all the sins of the world. He knew that his people would no longer have to bear the weight of disease, sadness, and darkness because the cross bearing the weight of his son would bear all that. He knew that three days after Jesus’s death, His son would rise again and live forever.

He would win. Sadness wouldn’t win. Darkness wouldn’t win. Depression wouldn’t win. Pain wouldn’t win. Disease wouldn’t win. People could trust Jesus- the Lion. He could be their refuge, their protector, their comfort, their hope in a messy world.

After the storm passes, they could see the light reflecting off the clean fallen snow and feel the cold pierce their lungs and revive their spirit. They would feel his love more deeply and his touch more tangibly.