Inside: Living through a foggy season can be disconcerting and exhausting. Here’s encouragement to keep pushing through to the other side. ~
“You know the end from the beginning. You go before me and you will be with me. You will never leave me nor forsake me.* Please give me faith to trust you more, even when I can’t see into the fog.”
This snippet from my prayer journal provides a good indication of where my heart and mind have been lately. As someone who likes to read the end of books first—or at least flip to later pages to see how a current plot twist is resolved—a foggy future is disconcerting.
I suppose the future is always foggy to one degree or another, but it seems thicker during certain seasons. Amid illness or financial problems. As the empty nest looms. When a loved one is nearing death. While waiting to adopt or give birth. After an unexpected loss.
How Fog Feels
Sometimes the fog is tinged with joy and expectation; sometimes it’s weighed down by sorrow. Then there are those occasions when the way ahead is marked more by question marks than specific emotions, which, ironically, also can result in anxiety.
Other kinds of fog have more to do with the present than the future. The fog of not sensing God’s presence, of fluctuating hormones, of depression, of grief, of memory loss. I could go on, but you get the picture. You could probably add to the list yourself.
A Key Truth
Although I don’t live in an area where actual fog is common, there’s a truth about this weather condition that I think is helpful to remember. Fog is disorienting, for sure. But when it overtakes an area, the trees and street signs and houses we can’t see are still there. They’re right where they were before the fog rolled in, and they’ll be there when the fog dissipates.
The same applies to metaphorical fog in some ways.
It’s easy to get confused or turned around when we’re living through a foggy patch. When we can’t see clearly, our minds can play tricks on us. We might get paranoid or start questioning truth or facts that normally stabilize us.
When the fog lifts, as it usually does, those foundational facts and truths are right where they’ve always been. They didn’t change, no matter what we thought or felt when we couldn’t see our hand in front of our face.
What To Do
So what can we do when the fog threatens to overwhelm us?
Pray: “Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.” (Psalm 43:4) I don’t always use the same words, but some variation of this request shows up frequently in my prayers, for myself and my loved ones.
Remember: Chances are, this is not the first time you’ve faced the fog of uncertainty, sadness or chaos. How has God worked in your life during past such seasons? What specific prayers did He answer? How did the situations work out?
You Will Survive
I want to tell you that it gets easier, this pushing through the fog. And in some ways, it does. Once you live through something you dreaded or perhaps thought would take you down, it can build confidence in other areas. Not that you can do it on your own, but that you will survive.
But fog is fog. And if you’re anything like me, it can be disconcerting and exhausting, no matter how many times we go through it.
It requires us to take one step at a time. To do the next right thing. To seek help if we need it. To sometimes put ourselves on autopilot and trust that God will direct and lead us through.
He will, you know.
♥ Lois
When the fog lifts, foundational facts and truths are right where they’ve always been. They didn’t change, no matter what we thought or felt when we couldn’t see our hand in front of our face. Share on X Once you live through something you thought would take you down, it can build confidence in other areas. Not that you can do it on your own, but that you will survive. Share on XP.S. I’m linking up this week with #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.
* Deuteronomy 31:8
22 comments
Lois, this is so true I think we need to stop, pause, reflect and reset upon your words here. I have fibromyalgia and let me tell you about fibro fog, wow. Relating that with everyday fog is something else.
Thank you bunches for sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.
I’m so sorry for your struggles with fibromyalgia, Paula. The fog that comes with that sounds awful. Praying for clearer days ahead, friend. ❤️
You said it so eloquently, God is always with us even on the foggy days. And what a comfort it is to know that truth. Each time we walk through the fog, we become stronger for the next time because it is sure to come again.
Oh, Suzette … God knows what we need to make us stronger, doesn’t He? Even fog, it seems. Good to hear from you this week!
You make so many good points here about fog. I noticed this morning that we had a lot of fog on the lake. Even though I couldn’t see very far through the fog, I was still confident about what was on the other side. Thanks for this encouragement, Lois!
I’m glad you found it encouraging, Lisa. Hugs, friend.
I’ll be sharing this post on Friday for the Grace & Truth featured post at my blog. Thanks, Lois!
Thanks so much for sharing the post on the linkup, Lisa. 🙂
Thank you, Lois, for such encouraging insights. Life can certainly lead us into foggy areas at times. I love how you point out what is true is always still right there, behind the fog. It reminds me of one of my favorite allegory stories by Hannah Hurnard, “Hinds Feet on High Places”. She actually shares some of her own struggles which led to the writing of the allegory in one edition that I have.
She mentions loving a particular place for the peace and gorgeous view of the mountains which reminded her of God’s strength. She went there one time and due to the dense fog could not see the mountains and became discouraged. That is until the fog cleared and God reminded her what was true was there all along. I have never forgotten that when I find myself in the fog.
That’s a powerful story, Donna … thanks so much for sharing it. Hugs, friend.
Sometimes fog seems to come out of the blue, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. It hits us sideways and leaves us disoriented and anxious.
That’s when the truth of God’s character and faithfulness shine bright. He reorients us, lets us know all will be well, and guides us forward.
Where would we be without Jesus …
Oh Linda … we’d be in a heap of trouble, for sure. Not to mention lost and wandering and hopeless. I’m so thankful for His continual presence and faithfulness!
Well said! Shared on twitter.
Thanks so much, Carol!
Lois, this is such a beautiful post. I’ve definitely walked through seasons where I felt like fog hemmed me in, slowing my thinking, numbing my heart, and emphasizing the pain I was walking through. But you’re so right. The foundational truths we (I) believe about God don’t change. The reality of who He is stays right and true, and I can cling to those, even when I can’t see anything else around me.
Jeanne, you describe so well what happens when fog takes over. It’s not a fun experience, for sure. I’m glad we can look back and know God was there, and that He’ll be there during future foggy times too. Hugs, friend.
This is poignant, Lois. Thank you! What a comforting, grounding truth that all things in the fog haven’t disappeared just because we can’t see them.
You’re welcome, friend! Hope your summer is off to a good start!
What a blessed truth–when I can’t see clearly or feel God’s presence, He is still there and His truth still surrounds me and undergirds me. My next steps may not be clear to me, but they are to Him.
That’s such a comforting thought, Barbara!
Lois, I so appreciated this post. “When the fog lifts, as it usually does, those foundational facts and truths are right where they’ve always been.” Amen! May we cling to what we know to be truth for He will always guide us back! xo
Oh yes, Joanne … He most certainly will. Hugs, friend.