A Light In the Fog

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, light on my path.”–  Psalm 119:105

The other day I went for a walk at a lake near my home. There is a trail around the lake, and I have walked it in every type of weather and season. The weather was a little damp and very foggy and as I rounded a bend that looks out over the lake, I was struck how the dense fog provided a film over the sky and land. The gray wall was so dense that I could barely see the surface of the water and across the lake, only wispy remnants of trees could be seen, barely visible. It reminded me of life.

I have heard others say it feels like we are living in a fog. Everything is different and we can’t see ahead. We can’t see the “beyond here”. No one is exempt. Nothing is clear. And the end is definitely not in sight.

We find the unclear, foggy times of life unnerving. I know I do. But I have learned a few things over the years while in those foggy seasons. One of the best things I have learned is that “even growth happens in the darkness”.

What? I thought we needed light to live, to grow, to thrive? Plants surely do. How can they, or anything grow without light? I can only go by my experience, that when things are rosy and clear and wonderful, I may have growth moments too. But it’s when the times are hard and the road is painful and uncertain, that when I seek God, I often grow the most.

One thing I am reminded of is that though we face this fog, God still provides a small light to shine on the way. And that way is His word.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, light on my path.” But that light is only shining on my feet—to show me one step. The light is not a street light, or a headlight, or any type of light that casts its glow over a large area at a time. It’s a lamp for my feet. To take one step at a time. So I can take the next step. And grow closer to God.

Prayer– “God of light, you promise to go forward ahead of me and ask me to follow. Help me to trust you with a small step at a time, knowing that you lead me, and to trust in your ability to see the path ahead. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”