Life in the Fog 

There is a dense fog that often blankets the Willamette Valley of Oregon in the fall of the year. My first experience of driving in this fog on a regular basis was in 1976. I had to commute about 15 miles one way to school. That doesn’t sound like much of a journey but in a dense fog it seems like a very long way. I remember one especially long and dark trip home. It was about 5:30 in the evening and I was driving a very familiar road. I knew there was a stop sign up ahead and if I missed the stop I would be crossing a very busy highway.  I couldn’t see any other car lights ahead until they were just a very few feet in front of me. If I went too slowly I would be in danger of being rear ended. The road I was on had a fog line that warned you if you got too close to the edge. I kept watching for that and moving along. I finally came to the stop sign and turned onto the highway where the visibility was a little better. What a relief!

More recently I have been living and trying to navigate in a different kind of fog. It’s not a weather-related fog like I experienced as a young adult. It’s been a fog in my mind from the grief of the loss of my dear grandsons and their father. Such a fog can stop you right in your tracks and you get “rear ended” by life. My only hope was to remember that God is always the same no matter what circumstances told me. He is the same today as he was the morning of August 2^nd 2008 when those sweet little boys and their father woke up and got ready for their day.  And what a grand day they had! They began their drive home that evening but didn’t make it. God chose to take them to their eternal home to be with Him.

I cried to God in pain the next several weeks and asked why but did not have the answer.  The fog didn’t lift right then but the atmosphere had changed. I still couldn’t see very far ahead, but I could hear a familiar voice in the mist. It was the voice of my Creator, the One that loved me more than anyone else. All I knew for sure was that He would see me through and He would use this for His glory. He would heal my heartbreak and He was worthy of my praise.

Whatever crisis we happen to face, we ought to know that no crisis is devoid of God.

God is in the midst of the fog.

I have always loved lighthouses. I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it’s from growing up near the Oregon coast. Lighthouses are used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous sandbars and reefs, safe entries to harbors.  The Pacific Northwest coastline is very rugged and just like the fog in the Willamette Valley the fog on the coastline is often dense. So, the lighthouses are often placed below the top of the cliff to ensure that they can still be seen at the surface of the water during periods of dense fog. When we are in our fog we need to have God close, not off in some far distant place. Though the fog may blur our vision so that we can’t see Him clearly we can still know that He is there. His light will give us safe passage through the dangers and into a safe harbor. His light will shine and we can meet Him in the fog. Because God is there, we need not be afraid.

Step by step, through the fog I have chosen to trust that God had my best interest at heart and to lean on His strength to get me through my days. He has strengthened me when I felt I couldn’t even put one foot in front of the other. I know God has his hand on my life and will lead me through. The fog and pain are still there at times but it is beginning to lift.

I will remember Psalm 71:19-21...

Your righteousness reaches to the skies O God      

You who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,

You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up.

by Beth Moore

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