Devotionals

Don't Live in the Fog

by Cynthia Bowen
10/31/15
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The dense fog hung heavily in front of my car and the usually familiar road seemed foreign to me as I drove to work.  I could barely see where I was going and could not see the road behind me at all.  I hoped all the deer and other animals knew enough to stay out of my way and  kept my eyes glued to the yellow line that told me that I was still on pavement.  Though the fog made for a slow commute that day, I knew that the sun was going to rise soon and dispel the thick mist. No matter how thick it is, fog just can’t stand up to the brilliant heat of the sun.

Sometimes, we can find ourselves walking around with our head in the fog.  We are so consumed with what is right in front of us that we can’t see anything else.  Our focus is so drawn to that thing that we feel like we can’t see where we are going and we can’t really see how far we have come in life.  That thing we are looking at could be what we feel we are lacking in our lives that  puts us in a fog of self-pity.  It could be our own faults and shortcomings that have placed us in a fog of self-recrimination.  It may be looking at someone else and wishing our circumstances looked like theirs that places us in a fog of envy.  I suspect that everyone deals with their own fog makers in life.

The problem with walking around with our head in the fog is that we just can’t see because of it.  We can’t see what is coming toward us in the fog, and when we look back we don’t discern just how far God has brought us in life.  It is a spiritually dangerous place to live because we don’t see the attacks of the enemy coming at us.  If we were thinking clearly and in tandem with the Holy Spirit, we would be able to discern spiritual attack and would be ready to counter it with faith and the Word.  Instead we stand with our guard down and our discernment clouded by the fog in which we stand.

And let’s be honest, sometimes the real enemy when we are in the fog isn’t spiritual at all.  It is our own flesh. When I am absorbed with my own life and the circumstances I find myself in, I am going to live out of my own carnal nature.  I will react in a knee-jerk fashion when facing frustration instead of trusting God and responding with patience.  I am just likely to act up and embarrass myself and belie my witness of the power of God when my head is in the fog.

   Proverbs 29:18 says, Where there is no vision, the people perish. I don’t think I hurt the text to switch it to a positive note and say, Where there IS vision, people THRIVE. If we are going to live a victorious Christian life, we need to see where we are going and what is facing us.  We need to be able to look over our shoulder and remind ourselves of the many times God has met us at our place of need and delivered us.  Most of all, we need spiritual vision to discern the presence and providential care of the Lord in our daily lives.

So how do we get ourselves out of the fog?  Just like natural fog cannot stand up the heat and brightness of the sun, that spiritual fog melts in the light of the Son.  When we turn our eyes toward the Lord and start drinking in His presence, all of our self-absorbed thinking fades away.  We do this through reading the Word, prayer, and worship.  Sometimes, we just need to heed the charge of the old chorus, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. The things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.