Seeing Through the Fog

Upon waking this morning, I sat up to be able to see out through the bay window; gray…just gray, that was my first thought. Gray it was, for there was a thick fog blanketing everything. I could not even see the pond, just a few feet away. As I laid there trying unsuccessfully to see my outdoor surroundings, I realized that the window itself was wet with condensation and the rivulets of water drizzling down the glass made me think of tears, tears streaking down. Oh, what a sad and gloomy day this had dawned to be! How easy it would be to drag myself out of bed and mope around all day in a mood as gray as the fog.

I think we have two ideas here, first let’s think about seeing through the fog; or maybe I should say NOT seeing through the fog. This makes me consider how sometimes we don’t see God or see how He may be working in a particular situation. Often we assume if we can’t see something it doesn’t exist, but just as I looked out the window this morning, even though I was not able to see the pond I knew it was there. Through the fog of life if we are trusting in God and believe His word, our faith will assure us that He is there…always. Jeremiah 23:23-24 tells us, “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? Declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Declares the Lord.” This tells me that in the midst of the thickest of fogs, God sees me even when my eyes can’t see Him.

The second point I want to look at is the gloom that is painted in the description of the day. In the darkest of days we, as members of God’s family can be joyful. It’s important to remember that by knowing Christ, joy is available when happiness may not be. Being secure in our salvation creates joy in the heart! One example comes from 1 Peter 1:8, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” No matter the condition of the day we are instructed in Psalm 118:24 that we are to rejoice and be glad in the day for the Lord has made it.

Both thoughts can be tied together to teach us that no matter how thick the fog in which we may find ourselves or how gloomy the day, God is always there and in Christ we have our joy.

Corrie Ten Boom says it this way, “Faith is like radar that sees through the fog – the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.”

Faith and joy; cause and effect. Faith is the cause. Joy is the result.