That Foggy Place

Happy Valentine's Day!!! With prayer we can always bless others and show them how much we do love them whether it is behind closed doors, at great distances, hand in hand, or in small groups.  With grateful hearts may we be able to continue to give great love to others through our prayers.  May the love of God continue to bless you and keep you, may God's love shine down upon you and give you peace.

On a more personal note on prayer, the article below may help us all to find a piece of God's heart. He desires to continue to build upon your relationship with Him, so please do enjoy the misty foggy place in whatever form it may be for you in this season.

That Foggy Place

Written by Maylee Chang

An element of nature once unappreciated has become one of quiet beauty for me: fog.  It can be a nuisance when one is on the run desiring to get from one point to the other.  However, if one slows down to assess the scene, suddenly there’s definition, formulation of silhouettes, and depths unseen just a minute ago.  Unexpectedly, that once unwanted fog gives a quiet and deep beauty to the given scene. 

This fog is a natural occurrence of life.  It comes and goes.  It is unpredictable.  Sometimes it is light and other times dense.  It may come during the day or night.  It may lift quickly or linger indefinitely.  It is a time of stepping from a clear and comfortable place into uneasy haze.  The inability to see the whole picture can be disconcerting.  It is natural to fear what one may stumble over or what awaits when the fog clears.  As it is a natural phenomenon, intellects and the wise have given it names through the centuries.  To a name a few, Jungian psychology calls it individuation, a place of fragmentation in order to obtain wholeness; early anthropologists and others call it liminal space, a threshold or mid-place of uncertainty where one is no longer at point A, but not yet at point B; and Christian mystics of the late 14^th century called it the “cloud of unknowing.”  I call it, well, fog. 

No matter what one calls it, uncertainty can be unpleasant.  There are typically three negative ways a person responds: 1) turn back, 2) dwell in the fog and complain, or 3) run forward blindly.  Turning back may mean not advancing in God’s will; dwelling with complaint may turn the focus inward towards fear, anxiety, bitterness, and distrust; and running ahead of God may cause one to take the wrong course, run into a tree, or maybe even fall off a cliff.

Though unpleasant, perhaps the presence of fog is a means by which God communicates with humanity.  Perhaps He wants to tell us who He is and who we are.  Perhaps the fog isn’t even about the scene, but about the landscape of our hearts.  Perhaps He is allowing the fog to correct a sin, to test us, to protect us, to let us rest so we can sense His movement.  Or perhaps, He simply wants us to know, even in that place, “God is with us.”  This reminds me of the “cloud above the tabernacle” for the Israelites (Numbers, 9:15-23).   God provided the cloud for various purposes.   One purpose was to direct his movement as evidenced by Numbers 9:22, “Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out” (NIV).  Sometimes when the cloud (or fog) does not seem to move, we may question God.  Will things ever change?  Why are we still here when I thought we were heading to the Promise Land?  Have you abandoned me?  How will I get there if you don’t clear this up?  If the Israelites had turned around, they would’ve likely gone back to slavery in Egypt.  If they had ran ahead of God, they might have been lost and scorched in the desert sun.   Through the cloud, God gave commands (Ex. 25:22), guided, and protected the Israelites (Ex. 13:21).  Perhaps in our fogs, God is doing the same for us.   

I have been through many fogs.  Not all are from the Lord.  Regardless, there is always a truth revealed about who God is and who I am.  It is always that God is infinitely good, and I’m finitely full of sin.  It is also that God is full of grace, and I’m infinitely covered.   At times I turn back; other times I begrudgingly dwell and eventually run ahead.  Those reactions never turned out good.  When I’m walking closely with the Lord, I begin to experience God in a new way.  In the fog, I’m forced to slow down, search, and find God’s way, and it is good.  I learn what it feels like to live in grace, to be stripped of my comfort, to accept my limitations, to be completely depraved, to deeply need, and to have complete dependence on Him.  I learn that God is sovereign over the clear paths as well as the foggy ones.  In that place, I begin to ask the right questions.  Do you love me that much that you would make me slow down to get my attention?  Am I really that valuable that you would open my eyes to your plans? What is it that you want of me?  As God has control over natural fog, He also has control over the fogs in my life.  When the fog lifts, it is as if I’m standing back and watching God unfold his plans.  As the scene clears up and I have walked a long ways, it becomes apparent that He has guided me every single step of the way.  I wouldn’t have made it through those rugged foggy paths without His guidance.  I’ve learned to walk with him in fog, now I can run with him in clarity.

There will be many fogs to come.   As we continue this pilgrimage of life, each foggy encounter can occur in a new terrain with unfamiliar landscape or give depth to a familiar scene.  Each new encounter will come with normative fear of the unknown.  However, we may handle it better this time around because we have learned to fully trust God and truly know that He is good, He is sovereign, and His love is unfailing.  It is here we are able to lead others through fog with confidence.  We can ask others to walk slowly in obedience, sit down to rest, or wait in hope because we know that being in tune with God is the only way to navigate through fog.  Being sensitive to God’s movement in a place of uncertainty requires our full attention.  Turning back, complaining, or running ahead will not allow us to sense God’s direction.  Whether we are in a place of uncertainty waiting for a dream job, a spouse, a child, a new opportunity, or a change of direction; being in tune with God will give us new perspective, build our character, and help us see Him for who He is.

When fog is present in the scene, dwell in it with hope, caution, and faith.  Instead of imposing our speedy plans on God, as we slow down to assess the scene, we begin to see beauty.  Unexpectedly, the unwanted fog is what was needed.  We may even find that the real beauty is not in the silhouettes and depths of the given scene, but in the enhanced landscape of our hearts.  Perhaps, God’s purpose all along was to shape us into His likeness, the intended purpose from the beginning. 

What lessons have you learned from the fogs in your life?  We would love to hear your stories.