Yesterday morning I went on a prayer journey. I drove my truck West, and headed for Bald Peak. It was very foggy. The fog was everywhere and created confusion because I couldn’t see anything – even things that were familiar to me I did not recognize, and I got lost a few times. I pondered this and understood the metaphor that God was showing me.
Fog is a very powerful metaphor for the effect of sin. Sin literally means “missing the mark.” It’s the word God uses throughout the Bible to describe our motivations, attitudes, & actions that go against the grain of His creation, intent, character. I have sin in my life that rears its head now & then, and blocks my view. Just as fog blocks the warmth & light of the sun, sin blocks God’s influence from our lives. The fog also took away the pleasure of the journey because I couldn’t see anything to appreciate the view. It made the journey feel like drudgery, especially when I was going uphill…all there was at that moment was the painful toil and work of going up the hill in the fog and I said out loud “This is exactly how I feel right now.” Drudgery…have you been there?
Another thing about fog is that it moves. It is not stable or predictable but malevolent, intending to create confusion and havoc. As I continued to travel higher and higher up the mountain, I eventually broke through the fog and was surrounded by blue sky and sunlight and all of God’s beauty around me. It had been there all the time but I was consumed inside the fog and could not see it. This is the type of reality I want to come into, and my soul pleaded with God that I will be able to experience this sunny & promising state in my inmost place . His promises to us are always that if we pursue him, and endure trials, and accept the rod of discipline when we screw-up; that we will emerge in his perfect timing into the place of warm & bright flourishing…where he designed our spirits to live. I trust in God to be true and reliable, so I take hope in this.
Then I remembered where the fog came from, it came from my own weaknesses and bad choices and spiritual wandering…so in his justice as a good Father, the process of getting me out of it will take time and effort on my part. God will not give us all the answers that we seek while we are in the fog, but will instruct us to put one foot in front of the other and be faithful. Then after watching & helping us be faithful for awhile, will restore strength & vision. God will not bless you with deeper understandings or further visions until you are faithfully doing and being what he has already put in front of you.
God is so faithful! So wise and gracious and good to His children!
“I have swept away your sins like a cloud.I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.Oh, return to me,for I have paid the price to set you free.” Isaiah 44:22