Driving in the fog

Early one Saturday morning, several years ago, I was driving on an unfamiliar hilly road under the light of a full moon. I knew my destination and I had a road map to show me which roads to take. As the temperature dropped, fog began to develop in the low lying areas. on top of the hills the road could be clearly seen. there were road signs, stripes marking the edges, the center line and the no passing zones. The fog in the low lying areas was beautiful as the light of the full moon reflected off of the top of it. As I drove into the low lying ares, fog obscured my way. It was not nearly as beautiful as it seemed from the outside. Looking up, the sky was clear, the full moon was beautiful as it shone, not with it's own light, but with the light that it reflected from the sun. I strained my eyes to see the road. Everything that once marked the way so clearly was still there, but the fog made it hard to see. When the high beams were on, instead of lighting the way, they reflected off of the fog, making it even harder to see the road. Dimming the headlights made it easier to see the road right in front of me, but I could see only a short distance. Turning on the fog lamps helped a little, but still the way was not really clear. The only solution was to proceed very slowly, trying to stay out of danger. Each time I drove out of a low lying area and out of the fog, the way was clear for a little while until I drove back into the fog, repeating the whole process. As the dawn began to break, the temperature dropped, more fog developed, making the way even more dangerous. The headlights seemed help less and I slowed to a crawl. all of a sudden, just when it seemed that I could not go on, the sun burned away the fog and the road was clear.

As I was driving, I believe the Lord showed me that this is an example of how we go through life. The way is often unfamiliar, but we know the destination and the Bible is our road map of how to get there. The way is clearly marked out if we will but follow the signs and markings. There are mountains and valleys that we must go through. Sometimes when we are on a high place, we can look down into the valley, and there is something there that looks very beautiful from the outside, but then sin usually looks attractive, and it can give pleasure for awhile, but very quickly it obscures the way. All of the signs are still there, but our spiritual eyes are dimmed by sin. If we look up the the Lord, even while in the muck and mire of sin, He is still there reaching out to us, shining in the darkness. Trying to do things on our own, is like turning on the headlights. it may help a little, but the way is still not clear. we may come out of the fog of sin for a time if we work real hard and try to do what is right, but if we are doing it with our own strength, back down the hill and into the fog we go again. Then comes a time when we realize that we cannot break out of the fog no matter what we do. The fog just gets thicker and thicker, making life harder and harder. Finally the day comes when we realize that we cannot go on, we invite Jesus into our lives and the Holy Spirit to baptize us with his power. Just like the sun burns away the fog, making the road clear. the Holy Spirit will burn away the spiritual fog that surrounds us when we try to live on our own power.