Breaking Through the Fog

    We sat with our coffee near the big front window as the morning’s fog began to dissipate. The farmlands below came into view. Then the thick bank hiding Port Susan retreated over Camano Island. Soon the snowy Olympic peaks rose startlingly white out of the thinning mist. In a few minutes, the entire island with its backdrop of shining mountains had emerged out of seeming nothingness.

     Of course, the peaks had been there all the time. But if we hadn’t known that, we might have reacted with the same surprised delight as did my 95-year-old mother when she sat at the elder-care-center window, watching the mountains appear and disappear among the clouds. “They rise and then they set,” she’d puzzle. Knowing she wouldn’t remember, we tried to explain what was happening. But every time the clouds lifted to reveal the mountains, she was surprised and delighted all over again.

    Isn’t a lot of life like that? Certain basic truths never change, like God’s love for us. Like his desire for us to be all that we’re created to be.

    The fog that obscures our vision is made up of half-truths we’ve been taught:

        ~You are the master of your fate, the captain of your soul.
        ~You’re # 1.
        ~You deserve the best.

            Or, conversely:

        ~What makes you think you’re important?
        ~If you don’t fight for your rights, no one else will.
        ~You’re a bad person.

    What helps us cut through the fog and see the truth? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” Jesus knew how much the heavenly Father loves us. Because of that love, Jesus was sent to die for us on the cross. His sacrifice opened the way for us to come to the Father.

    No longer must we pretend we’re in charge. The Creator of the universe fights for us. When we see our place in God’s scheme of things, we know we are important. He has gifted us to fill a place that no one else can fill. We’re not good in ourselves, but Jesus died to make us good in God’s sight. The Bible, God’s word, teaches us all truth and clears away the fog of the world’s lies.

    There’s no better way to live.