It was another busy morning. In all the rushing around there was no time to stop and watch the news or weather. I grabbed my stuff for another busy day and rushed out the door. As my car left the garage, it was immediately encased in a thick fog. Now we don't get just a whole lot of fog in Texas, but this was one of those can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face kinds of fogs. As I made my way to work, the visual short-sightedness was joined with the sirens as first-responders rushed to aid another who had been blindsided in the fog. I passed two wrecks on my way to work in the fog. My pace was slow as I crept through the density and then just as fast as I entered the fog, I drove into bright sunlight. It wasn't a slow subtle change. It was immediate. I went from being unable to see the car in front of me to having to blink to help my eyes adjust to bright sunlight. Oh, the life lessons in that morning drive. Here is my Fog Advisory.
Advisory Recommendation 1. Fog happens and sometimes you miss a lot of warning signs that might help you be prepared. Had I turned on my TV for a brief weather report, I would have known that my journey that morning was going to be slow. I would have realized the dangers I might be facing and reorganized my morning to allow for more time to deal with it. In life we face fog, too. We usually feel a little caught off guard by it, but often it is because we are running so fast that we miss the warning signs that trouble is coming. We rush through life and don't realize that our marriage is falling apart. We hurry from duty to duty and miss the signs that our kids are getting off track. As Christians we sometimes are so busy "doing church" that we miss the signs that our faith is being neglected. We are trying to do so good, that we miss the signs that things are getting bad. Fog Alert--Check the weather of your life. Are there warning signs you need to be heeding?
Advisory Recommendation 2. When you can't see what lies ahead, SLOW DOWN! I must confess this one is a weakness for me. When I run into fog, a.k.a. problems, I seem to throw myself into high gear trying to find solutions. I struggle and wrestle until I have created even a greater mess. PLEASE, tell me I am not alone in this club! In our effort to get to sunlight, we speed up and run smack dab into another problem. Someone call 911. When life is a fog, slow down. Take time to get your bearings. Adjust your eyesight to your surroundings (fine-tune your faith lenses). But may I caution you against something else? Don't stop in the middle of the road!! Don't give up and stop in your tracks. That creates its own danger, too. Before you know it, you have been rear-ended and someone else is injured because you became an obstacle. It is okay to pull over for a minute and regroup, but please don't give up and stop in your path. Which leads me to Advisory Recommendation 3.
Advisory Recommendation 3. Fog is temporary. Keep driving towards the sun. When we are caught in a fog, it seems as if the whole, wide world is shrouded in gray. It is easy to feel as though things will never get better, but then one day, just like that, the fog lifts and you are once again surrounded by bright, warm sunlight. Friend, your troubles won't last forever. The fog will lift. All you have to do is keep moving towards the sunlight. I have to say that sometimes Satan whispers little lies in our ears. He says, "This will never get better. Today is just like yesterday. Next year will be just like the last. Nothing ever changes. Be afraid, be very afraid." When in fact he is the one that is afraid. He KNOWS the weather and he knows that just two minutes away the sun is shining so brightly that you will need shades. He wants to incapacitate you to keep you from moving forward and getting there. Believe the truth, and this is the truth; fog is temporary. Keep driving!!
I am no weatherman, but I know my weather advice is based on the best meteorologist ever. Want to read some fog advisory recommendations from the creator of weather?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (Msg)
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us.
Isaiah 44:22
I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.
Isaiah 58:8
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.
Song of Songs 2:11
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come!
