Faith and Fog

These past few autumnal mornings have been foggy, giving the world an ethereal feel to it. Glimpses of trees, a hazed brightness to the sky, giving indication of sunny and blue on the other side. I like the feel of days like this. But I remember a foggy day when I was in Jr high, and on crosswalk duty, that the fog seemed more an enemy to me.

We lived just up the road from the Jr high school, and so my sister and I would walk to and from school everyday. This particular day I made my way to the school through a very thick fog alone, to take up task of carrying the crosswalk banner to aid in the safety others crossing the street. It was the kind of fog, where you could only see only a short distance in front of you, no glimpse of trees, no hazed brightness from the sky, just a thick grey cloud of moist fluff. As I took my place at the cross walk, I became very nervous, even with headlights on, one could only see 10, maybe 15 feet in front of their vehicle. To further add to the wariness of the situation, to one side of the crosswalk was a corner, that was the side I was on. I knew it was my responsibility, as a 12 year old, to see that the other students crossed safely, which meant, I had to step out into the road, trusting that the cars would see me in time to stop before ending my career as a crosswalk monitor. The task was completed without incident, but as is common, there was more than one day of fog, which meant repeat performances for me.

It has often felt like my days have been foggy these past 22 months, some days there is a lighter fog than others, but foggy just the same. I have begun to understand what stepping out on faith really means. Peter wanted to walk to the Lord on water. Everything in his mind told him, 'if you do you will sink, you will get caught up in the raging water and most likely drown. Walk on water, you're insane!' Yet, his heart wanted so badly to trust in his Savior, and believe he could actually walk on water. And he did, for a split second, till he looked at the water, and not his Lifeguard.

Once again, I am being asked to step out into the crosswalk of my life, with thick fog round-a-bout me, knowing in my heart of hearts I will be plastered to the ground by some vehicle waiting around the corner. But I am being asked to not wonder what is around the corner, to not even wonder what is on the other side of the fog, but to just walk through it, because I know the Name of the One who calls me to step out, knowing He will protect me. He has already made it through the fog, I am to trod His footsteps, even if I can only see one at a time. That is all He is asking of me. Trust. It is because of the habit of living before His face daily, that I know I can make it through the fog bank, again. This time He is the one stepping out into the the flow of traffic to let me pass safely, I just need to trust in the Unseen as I walk toward the unseen, believing.