FOG

Pea Soup?

No, actually it was thicker than that. It was more than campfire chili. The kind of chili that has everything, including the kitchen sink, jammed into it. You know the kind: thick and dense.

That was the kind of fog I drove through a few days ago. After picking up my son from middle school youth group, we began the trek up Eola Drive to our rented home. There came a point in which the world closed in around our minivan. It was tangible and it was freaky. A heavy layer of fog descended and boxed us in – you could almost cut it with a knife. Now, I’ve driven through fog before. It’s tough and you really have to pay attention, but this was different. It was so thick that I literally could not see but a few feet ahead of my vehicle. I tried the high-beams, the low-beams and the no-beams. Nothing worked. I crawled my way home under a canopy of confusion.

Sometimes life feels a bit like this. You and I can often struggle through things without a lot of clarity. Other times our emotions become clouded with sin and dysfunction. Slowly (and somewhat undiscernably) a fog can settle over our souls.

Isaiah 9:2 speaks of a “people walking in darkness…those living in the land of the shadow of death.” This is a kind of spiritual fog in which we can’t seem to find our own way. We are lost and confused and we need the help of a Savior to lead us through to safety.

The FOG can be representative of three huge areas in our lives: unforgiveness, selfishness and ingratitude. I believe we need to cut through that FOG…here are some ways how…

1. Forgiveness.
Maybe some of your relationships have been foggy with unforgiveness. Have you let things go on and on without addressing anger and bitterness? Do you have people in your life that you may need to extend forgiveness? The Bible challenges us: “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” I think the most effective way to cut through the fog in our relationships is to be quick to forgive. Is that something you may need to do today?

2. Others-ness.
I know this isn’t a real word, but it sure captures the essence of how we can cut through the fog of selfishness. Philippians 2:3 says to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others betters than yourselves.” When we give priority to the needs of others, then we are aggressively cutting through the fog of our own selfishness.

3. Gratefulness.
When is the last time you cut through the fog of ingratitude with a simple word of thanks to the Lord? Thank Him for your life, family, job, church and friends. We have so much to be thankful for, don’t we? When we express thanks to the Lord it has a way of cutting through the fog of our lives. We are able to see things clearer – our perspective changes for the better.

What other areas of fog do you deal with?