Zero Visibility

 For we walk by faith, not by sight…[2 Corinthians 5:7]

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As I turned the door handle to exit my home, the morning breeze wrapped around my face and kissed my cheeks as I walked to my car.  My senses were a bit more heightened than usual because of the brisk autumn air.  The pep in my step was restored as I enthusiastically took in a deep breath and savored the cool air as it entered my lungs.  The incessant rain had come and gone, and left a dense layer of fog in its wake.  In fact, I had not seen fog that dense since I was a lad.  My drive to work was slow and steady, as I struggled to see.  The fog was so thick, it was like driving through a huge cloud.  I couldn’t see opposing traffic until the headlights of each automobile zoomed past me.   Although I fancy myself an experienced driver, I was a little intimidated, because I was experiencing what meteorologists call zero visibility.

Many times I’ve found my walk with God to be much like driving in fog.  You don’t realize how scary driving can be until you lose visibility.  Our emotions, decisions, and lives are driven by not only what we see around us, but also how we see what is around us.  Examine your present situation.  Are there areas in your life where you are experiencing zero visibility?  You know God is working on your behalf and for your good, because you love Him…but because you can’t see far enough ahead to know how things are going to work out, your journey becomes foggy.

2 Corinthians 5:7 brings to light an important truth for the believer.  We live our lives in a constant state of flux between the visible and the invisible.  When I first read this scripture, I understood it to mean that we don’t live our lives by what we see, but rather by believing and standing on what God has already said in His word.  That’s powerful indeed, but closer examination of this scripture casts light upon a different revelation.  The fact that we walk by faith and not by sight unfurls the truth that sometimes faith is all we have to light our path.  It’s not that we don’t like what we see in front of us at the time, so we choose to walk by faith; that’s not what this scripture implies.  Rather think about it this way, sometimes, we simply just can’t see in front of us, so our faith in God is the only light we have.  When our vision fails, and our visibility is severely handicapped, we can’t stop moving.  Just because I couldn’t see as I was driving through the thick, foggy cloud, doesn’t mean that I could have just stopped in the middle of the road until things got better.  I had to keep moving.  I had to keep driving.  Here’s a word for you:

For where you are right now, it’s more detrimental for you to stop moving, than it is to keep moving with limited visibility.

I may not have been able to see as far as I normally could, but I was able to see just far enough ahead of me to keep my foot on the accelerator.  So, I say this to you…

You may not be able to see as far into your situation as you would like to.  You may not be able to see how your story is going to culminate from where you stand; but KEEP DRIVING.  God always gives you enough light to take the next step:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path…[Psalm 119:105]

Faith in God gives us the power to keep pressing the accelerator.  Keep on driving.

Be encouraged, my friends.  Fog is a good thing.  Why?  I remember asking my mother to explain fog to me when I was a young child.  This is what she told me…

Fog happens when the clouds come down from heaven and kiss the earth below.  It means the rain is over, and soon the sun is  going to shine.

You may be in a foggy season in your life now, and you’re wondering if the sun is going to ever shine again.  I just drove through the fog to tell you that heaven is about to kiss your life.  The fog is lifting, and the sun is about to shine upon you again.

…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning [Psalm 30:5]

Editor: Jaime Evans

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Keep Learning ♦ Keep Loving ♦ Keep Living

 

As always, thank you for visiting Wisdom’s Quill.  See you soon.

BE

 

 

Wisdom Wednesday: Pharisees 2.0

1. Women should never wear anything that pertains to a man.
2. Men should not wear anything that pertains to a woman.
3. No one should wear a garment made of wool and  linen.
4. No one should ever eat pork because it is unclean.
5. Never eat before you wash your hands.

…And the list goes on and on.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are just five of the 613 laws that were jettisoned through the blood of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice on the cross.  Most of us are familiar with the Pharisees and their collective plight to rid the religious world of Jesus.   In essence, they were the religious/political sect that were the self-proclaimed overseers of the Mosaic Law.  As a result of this proclamation, they managed to compile a huge list of rules and traditions that were added to the basic Law of Moses, while simultaneously enforcing those traditions by becoming judges, jurors, and executioners. 

These traditions were noble gestures, however, the enforcement of these traditions were borderline terrorism.  Because no one could ever really fulfill all the requirements of the traditions of men set forth by the Pharisees, they used them to flex their pious muscles, while being sheltered from the consequences themselves.  This is the very reason why the crucifixion of Jesus was successful.  Jesus was legally sentenced to a wrongful death because of the force of the Pharisaic Traditions. 

You would think with the entrance of the New Covenant, that the Pharisee would be a thing of the past…

Well, think again.

The Church is still the breeding ground for the Pharisaic mentality.  The tools of the trade have changed indeed.  I’m sure you’ve encountered a Pharisee or two.  They’re the ones that police everyone on Sundays to make sure their dress is long enough, or their hair color is “appropriate.”  Nevermind the pain that a person may be going through, or the person contemplating suicide, or the person that came to church one last time before making a decsion to become an atheist because they have lost hope. 

It’s infuriating and unacceptable.  So what do you think?

 

Do modern-day Pharisees exist?

What are the “new” traditions that are enforced in church today?

How does proper teaching come into play when dealing with this mentality?

 

Let’s talk…feel free to leave a reply below.  I’d love to hear from you.

 

As always, thanks for visiting Wisdom’s Quill.  See you soon.

BE