Foggy Ideas...

I find that wandering around in the great outdoors often causes my thoughts to wander in a spiritual direction. When I am confronted with the beauty of the real world as God created it, I find my faith growing stronger and I feel closer to Him. The flipside is that that when I am lost in the urban jungle of London, God sometimes seems a bit removed and remote.

With this in mind I learned a little spiritual lesson when I was hiking in Wales last weekend. The goal of the hike was to climb two different peaks in the Black Mountains. Usually when one climbs peaks, it is with the intention of getting a better view of the world below. This is what I was looking forward to, having heard that there were spectacular views of the countryside and the valley, once I reached the top. The trouble was that I was surrounded by fog for almost the entirety of the hike. Most of the time I could only see a few yards ahead of me. This limited vision really caused me to focus on the beauty that was at hand rather than the far reaching beauty that was spread out around. And on the rare occasion when the clouds did part, I found the view absolutely breathtaking.

My little trip in the Welsh hills is much like our spiritual journey through this world. How we long to see the big picture, to know exactly what God’s plan is for our lives. Wouldn’t it be great to be removed from time like Him, to see where we are going and where we have been all at the same time, to really see how it all fits together instead of being surrounded by the fog of this world. Of course we know it does not work this way. We have a direction, a hill that we have to climb, but we can’t always see where the path leads. It can be frustrating, especially for those of us that long for control over our lives.

God has his reasons for not completely revealing his plans to us. How would we as humans react if we instantly knew the fullness of His plans? We would not be able to focus, learn, and grow each day. Instead we would be distracted and overawed, unable to live the life given to us. Still I struggle with this concept, at times frustrated because I don’t know all the details.

Our Heavenly Father is well aware of the struggles of His children, and from time to time, He does allow the clouds to part. It is on these occasions that we are able to see more clearly and the beauty, complexity, and grace of God’s plans flashes before our eyes leaving us encouraged and exhilarated.

JE