International Christian Fiction Writers: Walking Around in A Fog By Marcia Lee Laycock

Walking in a Fog

I was in a hurry and it didn’t help that I had to warm up the car and brush the snow off the windshield. Then I realized I’d forgotten something on my desk so I dashed back into the house. My glasses immediately fogged up but I just kept going. Wham! I whacked my knee on the bench in the hallway. Ooff! I bumped into the end of the couch in the family room. Finally I stopped long enough to take my glasses off and let them return to normal. It only took a few seconds for them to clear and I was on my way again.

We often walk around in a fog, bumping into obstacles that hurt. We get aggravated and anxious when there is a simple solution. Stop. Stand still. Wait until the fog clears, then proceed. Of course in real life we think there isn’t time to stop. There isn’t time to stand still and wait. There are deadlines to meet, important people to see, vital decisions to make. The world will whiz by without us if we don’t keep up. So we plow ahead, and usually end up in a mess.

Often we wander in a fog spiritually as well. Something happens that causes us to lose our faith or to challenge the goodness of God. Though we are confused, we plow ahead on our own, bumping into false philosophies and destructive ideas. Our logic becomes the fog of disbelief. The solution here is the same. Stop. Be still. Wait.

Waiting for the fog to clear is a biblical principle. David knew about it as he wrote, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14). He must have felt like he was living in a fog as he was chased into the wilderness. He’d been anointed king of the land but it didn’t look like he would ever rule. It didn’t look like God was going to come through and fulfill his promises. But David held on to what he knew about the character of God. He knew God’s faithfulness. He knew all he had to do was stop, be still, and let the Lord clear the fog away.

God has said it himself – “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). No matter what’s happening around us, we can have that single assurance. God is God and he will never leave us. No matter how confused we are, no matter how angry we become at him, he will never turn his back on us. He will clear the fog away, the fog of doubt, pain, anger or fear. Nothing is too thick for him. Nothing is too dense. He will blow it away like the thin smudge from a tiny candle. He will fulfill all his promises. All we have to do is take the time to be still, hold on to him, and wait.
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Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was also short listed for a Word Award. Marcia has three novels for middle grade readers and four devotional books in print and has contributed to several anthologies. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.