“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
When I went out for my walk with the dog this morning, I was surprised to see a layer of fog so thick that it obscured my view of anything more than five feet in any direction. I couldn’t see the road. I couldn’t see the cars. I couldn’t see the numerous trees. All I could see was the fog.
Now, I have traveled this road many times. I know where it dips, where it turns, where it goes straight. But with everything so enshrouded with a misty-white blur, I found myself slightly disoriented.
As I stood there on the side of the road, I knew I had a choice to make. I could choose to follow the path that I thought I knew so well, taking it one step at a time, always keeping my eyes on the small bit of exposed road that I could see under my feet, and always trusting it to be where I had experienced that it would be in the past. Or I could keep my eyes on the fog. I could focus on the white blur until my sense of direction became so confused that I would begin to question whether the road really was where I thought it would be. I could even choose to veer off a little to the right—Just in case the road turned that direction and I couldn’t see it!
Absurd? Perhaps, for on a foggy day it would not be wise at all to veer from the known path. Yet this reminds me so much of the Christian walk. Sometimes, as we travel down our road of life, we encounter fog. The fog may come in many different forms. It may be the loss of a job, an undesired divorce, or a debilitating disease. It may be financial difficulties, rebellious children, or even lack of acceptance among friends. And it doesn’t seem to matter how close our walk with Christ is, the source of the fog, whatever it is, obscures our view of Him. We can’t see Him, we can’t see the path we have been following, we can’t even see others along the way who we normally might have reached out to help!
But just like I was faced with a choice this morning, we are also faced with choices. Either we focus our attention on the tiny bit of road we see, Jesus, following Him carefully, ever trusting Him to be where we’ve known Him to be in the past, or we begin to question if He is really there at all. We focus on the problems. We get disoriented. We veer off the road.
This morning, I chose to stay on the road. I focused on the little bit of pavement that was still exposed, never veering to the right or to the left. I didn’t even allow myself to look into the distance. I just kept plodding forward, one foot in front of the other, trusting the road to always be there. And I arrived safely back home.
Isn’t this the best way to pass through the “fog” that so often obscures our Christian walk? We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus—even if the view of Him isn’t as clear as it once was! We must stop looking at circumstance, and instead, we must move forward, one foot in front of the other, ever trusting Jesus to keep us on the right path. Why? Because if we look to the circumstances, it will obscure our view of Him. It will disorient us. It will cause us to question our path and to stray away from the only help that we have at our disposal: Jesus Christ!
What choice will YOU make in the middle of YOUR fog, my friend?
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org