fog is disconcerting
fog is scary
fog can be dangerous
fog obscures your sight
fog slows you down
fog can confuse you
fog is beautiful.
A few nights ago I drove up the mountain to an overlook on the parkway. I wanted to see the clouds that were forming and watch the storm that was rolling into the valley but when I got to the top I was almost stopped in my tracks by the fog instead. Notice I said 'almost'. The fog was so dense that I had to inch along at less than half my normal speed but I kept at it- both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road- and I finally made it to my destination.
Here is a taste of what I saw when I reached the top-
Or should I say, 'what I didn't see.' At first I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get the view I'd hoped for; but then I felt a familiar tug at my heart... the tug that I've come to recognize as, "Sit down... stay a while. I have something to tell you." So I got out of my car on that lonely stretch of road, leaned against the hood of my car, and stared out over what had once been so familiar but was now completely foreign to my eyes. I have been on that mountain overlook more times than I can count and yet in that moment I was virtually blind. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, and for just a moment it made me wonder, 'is it really out there?' But then the moment passed and I knew without a doubt what was just beyond the fog. I'd enjoyed the view before and I knew that the valley and everything in it hadn't gone anywhere since the last time I'd been to that spot. I knew what was true, I just couldn't see it because of the fog that was blocking my view.
As I sat there, I started to think about where I am right now in life and realized that I can relate a lot to that fog-covered valley. Life has been a little foggy lately. I know the truth that God is not only present, but active in my life, and I know that what he has for me is beautiful, but right now the fog just seems to be blocking my view a little, confusing me, making the going a little tougher, a little slower. As I stood in the midst of that dense fog, I realized that 1. the fog is temporary {the sun will ultimately burn it away} and 2. even though the fog seems to be blocking my view of something beautiful, the fog itself can be beautiful, too. And in the same way that I know my beautiful Shenandoah Valley didn't disappear while I was away, I know that God's promises have not vanished either.
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,
'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you,' declares the Lord..."
Jeremiah 29:11-14a
In this life there will always be fog, but there will come a day when all of the fog is burned away.
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
1 Corinthians 13:12
So, Lord, until then, remind me of the fog.
Amen.
B
