God Fog

Years ago, my father and I use to hunt on Siple Mountain in Pendleton County, WV; now, that was true deer country.

Once, we were hunting and a fog rolled in across the top of that mountain; about that time a group of does ran out and stopped. I shot and knew I had hit one. I walked over to the area where it had been hit, but I couldn't find it - the fog was actually too thick and blocked the area around me.
A few days later, I was back in that same spot and as the afternoon wore on, a few does ran out of the same spot to the same location just as before. After I shot this time, I found my deer.
Unexpectedly, less than ten feet away from that day's deer laid the deer I had shot in the fog two days earlier. 
The only difference now was that I could see the area because the fog had been lifted.

And  this is exactly what we desire from God when we find ourselves in a fog during life.
When a friend is diagnosed with cancer, when young parents give birth to a mentally retarded child, when the miracle doesn't come and the prayer doesn't seem to be answered - we just want God to lift the fog so that we'll understand what's going on in our lives.

But that's not how it usually happens - not for us and not for those in the Bible.

The heroes of the faith often found themselves surrounded by a fog where they couldn't understand what God was doing.
Abraham was given the promise and vision of fathering a nation that would be more numerous than the stars in the skies; yet, as he approached 100, that promise seemed far-fetched.

Joseph once found himself at the bottom of a well and in an Egyptian dungeon for doing right; I'm fairly certain those visions he had of his brothers bowing before him seemed like a cruel joke at times.

Moses was the hand-picked liberator of the people; yet, he spent 40 years living on the backside of the desert believing he was a wanted man.

David was anointed as the King of Israel by Samuel on God's command; yet, he spent 10 years dodging Saul and sleeping in caves.

But with them all, God had given clarity and simplicity in the message and will for their lives; then it was followed by a time of silence which required faith.
And it seems to teach us a universal truth about faith:
The faith which God desires from us and values in us, seems to be demonstrated best when God stays silent for a while, a fog covers our lives and the lights go out giving way to a mysterious darkness where we must trust Him and Him alone.

Like the Biblical characters, our faith is toughened by testing.
And of those previously mentioned, Hebrews 11 gives the final verdict on them. Decidedly, Scripture proclaims of them, 'the world was not worthy.'

What's needed from us - a faith that hangs on no matter what.
Just like a child who is scared and hangs on to his father in a haunted house, knowing it will all be OK; we need that type of security and we receive it when we maintain a child-like faith.
That type of faith - it blossoms under the most grievous trials.

On Easter morning, the disciples learned something very important with this 'hang on to God' type of faith.
They discovered that when God seems very absent, he may be the closest He has ever been.
And in your life, if your prayers seem unanswered or if God seems dead to you - hang on and look again, because the stone is moving and He is coming back to life.

Like many, I wonder why all prayers aren't answers and why the miracles I pray for don't always happen. And I don't understand why every convert must travel the same road in faith.
But I do know that shortcuts in the faith are deceptive and lead away from Christ.

In every tragedy you have in your life - diseases, sicknesses, sadness or devastation; Easter teaches us that suffering and pain will not triumph for very long.

Looking to Christ daily, we learn to see those small triumphs of the faith in the small things of life.
And one of the greatest blessings in life that lead to victory is the fact that it is only a matter of time before we see God's miracle of transforming a dark, silent Friday we know as the world, into a bright and living Easter morning.
Only this time, it is going to happen on a cosmic and universal scale.

Until next time, go win one for the good guys.