The "Fog Dilemma"....

Ever feel like you've run into a fog bank and you don't know which way to turn?? The path is obscured from site...you don't know what lies ahead or which way to go. You want to follow God's best path, but even that doesn't seem to be very clear. What are you to do when all you see is "fog"??

I had an interesting encounter with "fog" this past week on my trip out to Nana's memorial in Atlanta. I flew all night from Portland to Charlotte. However, when we got to Charlotte about 5:30 in the morning, the airport and the city was covered in fog....not just fog a few feet high in the air. The place was engulfed in it, all the way to the ground. The pilots aborted our first attempt to land because there was absolutely NO VISIBILITY on the runway. It was kinda a eerie feeling as the plane (which had been on the descent and slowing down) suddenly was accelerated at full throttle up into the sky again. Then the pilots came over the sound system. "We were unable to land due to poor visibility, but will be circling around and trying again with another "method." Hmmm....that sounded really.....ummmmmm....comforting. What "other method" where they planning to use??

Well, we circled around and then slowly headed down again. Looking out the windows I could only see fog below....no land. Down....down....down we went. I closed my eyes and prayed. (I really don't like this feeling....not be able to see where we are or where are are going!) I looked again....now WE were engulfed in the fog...and I still could see nothing. A few seconds later our wheels hit the runway....and then....only then....I saw the ground. Whew!!! You could almost hear the entire plane let out a collective sigh of relief. What an incredible blind land.

However, the fog was sooo thick, we didn't get very far. We barely made our exit ramp off the runway....and pulled off to safety and out of the way of other planes....but it was sooo thick we couldn't go anywhere and we had to wait until someone from the airport could come and find us and tow us into the gate. It was incredible....we couldn't see a thing! (See the picture below, and the nearby lights of the airport terminal! Visibility was less than 50 feet!)

Later as I was getting off the plane, I complimented the pilot on our successful land despite the fog. "Oh, it wasn't me!" he responded. "It was an Auto-land - the plane did it all!" I was already out the door....but his words stayed with me.... "An Auto-land? You mean, our plane not only has an auto-pilot, but an auto-land? Wow! That's why they could do a blind land with no visibility...."

As I've been reflecting on it all, I realized how what happened on this flight parallels my own life at times. It seems that off and on through the years I find myself in a "fog bank" of sorts, not sure where I am going or what God wants me to do next. And the question will come to my mind, "What direction should I be walking...?? Am I still on the right path? Do I turn here or go straight? This is really tough because I can't see anything!!"

But as I was reminded by the pilot the other day, this is exactly when we need to trust God most. He is our "auto-pilot"....and He can guide our life even when we cannot see...

"He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon His God." Isaiah 50:10

Let me share some thoughts I wrote about this very "fog dilemma" about 3 years ago....

"What shall the believer do in times of darkness - the darkness of perplexity and confusion? Times of darkness do come to the faithful and believing disciples who are walking obediently in the will of God; seasons when He does not know what to do, nor which way to turn. The sky is overcast with clouds. The clear light of heaven does not shine upon his pathway. One feels as if he were grouping his way in the darkness. The first thing to do is nothing....When you run into a spiritual fog bank, don’t tear recklessly ahead, slow down the machinery in your life.....and simply trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. We must quietly trust and wait. He knows the way out of the woods..." From Streams in the Desert Oct 7th

Yes, thankfully, although we cannot see the big picture, God can, and He knows the way through the wilderness...and through the fog!! What peace and joy that brings! While I may not always see what I'd like to see, I know Who is before me...and thus, I will not be moved, but will trust and wait on Him!! As another favorite verse goes, "I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Ps 16:8 Another interesting insight, along the topic of "Life's journey," came to me as I was reading Psalms 23 recently. Maybe I'm just slow...or maybe I've been running too fast all these years that I haven't ever really thought to stop and think about it. But as Psalms 23 indicates, there are many different sequences of life that God walks with us through.

• Sometimes He makes us to lie down in green pastures...but we're not sure if we like this certain shade of green! (Didn't He make it a better green on "so&so's" journey?)
• Sometimes He leads us beside the still waters..."It's a little too quiet around here" we may wonder! "Did we miss the boat or shouldn't there be more activity and direction around here??"
• He ever seeks to lead us in the paths of righteousness - We want righteousness, but yet...do we really? What a sting to our soul as these paths aren't always popular or condoned by our friends and sometimes even our own family. :-(
• He even leads us through the valley of the shadow of death (maybe the death of a loved one, maybe the death of a vision or dream...) yet even there, we are to fear no evil for He ever walks beside us! Wow! That's pretty heavy God...are you sure you can trust me to stay beside you even through this??
• Sometimes He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies - Now, wouldn't this be the time to be proud and boast? But that's not the kind of "table of blessings" we are receiving here! While our enemies (or those that disdain the things of Heaven) scurry and worry about in distraction and dissension, we are blessed with true peace and joy, not based on outward externals. What a priceless gift! Yet, how easy it is, to throw even this gift away!
• Sometimes we are blessed with the anointing of His holy oil - and our cup does run over! (And I believe this is the ultimate gift of the journey!) Yet how often are we too distracted, from having just walked through the valley of the shadow of death, to truly receive that anointing. So sometimes we just complain that our cup is empty...and don't realize why!
• Yet despite it all - He promises that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life... "For God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance..." II Pet 3:9 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us..." Titus 3:5
• He promises (for those that have successfully completed this walk through the path of life's joys and sorrows...beside the green pastures and through the dark and perplexing valleys) that we will dwell in His house forever. It's not because of anything we have done, but because we TRUSTED HIM...and we kept walking...wherever He lead!!

Yes, as God continues to teach me day by day, life doesn't always make sense. It doesn't always come with a pretty clean easy to read map..."Do this, do that, go here, go there, take this path or that"...and often along the journey, there are times of question and sometimes even uncertainty. Yet, that doesn't mean that God has abandoned us...nor does it mean that we've been doing something wrong! He leads us both through the calm and through the storm, both beside the quiet waters and along the raging sea...both where the road is straight (And we can see ahead) and where the road is crooked (and we know not what will come next). Yet, He leads us!!

While I don't always understand where He's taking me, or which way to turn...my heart overflows with gratitude and praise for His faithfulness along the journey!! No, I can't always see where I'm going...and that's a bit hard sometimes for "Miss Melody" to take...yet, there is one thing I am sure of and one thing I've found to be faithful and true for many years now...

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD...and I SHALL NOT WANT." Ps 23:1