Living in the mountains and having to travel a great deal has taught me to pay attention to the weather. I check the forecasts daily and with good reason. Now, I knew days in advance that this storm was coming. I woke up that morning and noticed the Winter Storm Watch in effect. This was not going to be the storm to end all storms, but still, if I had to travel in it, I had better be prepared. So, should I hunker down and wait the storm out, or get moving and try to stay ahead of it?

It was 4:30 PM, and my work was done. I opted to make the 200 mile drive to get home. Now, the day had been pleasant thus far. I tossed my suitcase in the pickup, and it was then that I saw it. Coming from the West at an amazing rate of speed was a virtual wall of snow, wind, and darkness! I watched the leading edge of the storm like tendrils of black fog pass directly over me, and start up the slope of the Wasatch Range. One minute the air was clear, and the next the snow was swirling about me like a maelstrom. I jumped in my truck and drove toward the freeway. The mountains to my right vanished into the heavy clouds. I had to hurry! If I lingered any longer, darkness would fall, snow would accumulate, and the journey would be much more hazardous - if I got through at all.

Well, I’d not gone ten miles before the roads were slick, and the traffic was down to a crawl. My grip on the wheel was [with] both hands and at times white-knuckled. There were long stretches of highway that resembled more a wagon track on the plains than an interstate highway. Off and on all the way into Idaho these conditions lasted. One side of Malad Pass was snow and ice and dangerous, and then the other was dry roads and beautiful sunsets.

Storms are a remarkable phenomenon and have fascinated men and prophets from the beginning. They represent in scripture exactly what they are - times of great difficulty, danger, confusion, [and] sometimes even terrible destruction.

The Lord once chided the Pharisees because they could discern the face of the sky but not the signs of the times - meaning they could predict the weather, but they could not discern the storm of wrath and fury that was bearing down on them from the almighty. And they were destroyed!

You know, today we can learn the weather and forecast for any part of the globe at any time simply by reaching for our phone. Incalculable lives have been saved by such technology.

Now, my friends, a storm is coming far worse than ever befell the Jews or Sodom and Gomorrah. It is upon us and gathering in intensity! We have a long ways to go, and great care is required if we’re to arrive safely. Are we prepared?