Quite a few years ago I drove a truck for our local newspaper here in town. I was one of the ones that brought the paper to the carriers so they could deliver it to your house early in the morning. This job had real weird hours, I reported most nights at 9 pm and was off by 5 am. This , of course, changed on Saturday nights, in preparation for the busy Sunday paper day, I would work from 11 am to 5pm on Saturdays. 3 nights per week, I would drive to smaller towns delivering. On one such occasion, I was driving out in the middle of nowhere at about 3 am, heading back with an empty truck to Austin and more importantly, home. I was driving at about 60 MPH, along a two lane highway. It was a foggy night, and I had to slow down a little, as I couldn't see to far ahead of the truck. I suddenly realized that the fog was only a layer just above the ground. It covered everything for about 25 or so feet straight up, and then above the fog the night was clear and you could see the stars. How do I know this, being tied to the ground by gravity? As I said the fog was a layer, but it was not following the contours of the ground. It was at a constant height just above the ground. It did not rise and lower itself as the hills and valleys of the the road. So, as I , being trapped to the laws of physics, went up and down as if a roller coaster, below, and above the fog layer. There were times I was lower then the fog, there were times,(most of the time in fact) that I was in the fog, then there were times I was above the fog, sometimes way above.
I have thought about this many times since. I mean it was such a neat experience, rising above the fog and seeing the clear night sky, then being thrust into and even below. While below the fog, I could see the highway, the grass and the base of the trees, not much else. BUT when inside the fog, I could see nothing but the cloud of water vapor and the white of it.
I wrote this same story years ago, but never did anything with it. It was in the days before "Blogs" were available and more then likely before most of us had computers.
Yes, this was a very interesting experience, one that I will never forget. But is that it? NO> God has revealed to me, and a little common sense, what this shows. The highway is our life, we rise and fall through our circumstances, our faith, our emotions, our physical strengths, our relationships, our jobs, our mood, our self worth, .............BUT the fog represents God, He stays constant. When we are above the fog, we see the shinning stars, the bright night, we feel secure we think, "Oh, no problem, I can do this. Then when we are below the fog, we feel insecure, not worthy, we can hardly see anything except the ground the bottom of the trees, the grass. What if a car is coming around the corner in the wrong lane, a drunken person, I wouldn't see him.
But what happens when we are in the fog? We can see absolutely nothing. Wow, what about that? That would seem to be the most dangerous not being able to see at all. Well with God, that is the safest place to be. You see, when you are driving through fog, or some other reason you cannot see, you senses are alert, you are concentrating. But most important, you have to trust in God, because He sees everything, and we see nothing.
God is constant, God never changes, God's mercies never change, God is new (refreshed) every morning, He is a solid rock.
Psalm 18:31
New Living Translation (NLT)
For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
There is a certain insurance company out there that uses the symbol of a rock as their trade mark It is the "Rock of Gibraltar " or something.
When I was in the navy, there were certain landmarks all over the world, that we used to know exactly where we were. We were told, let's say, that we were headed home to the port of San Diego. We were all happy to be headed home, but when we saw the tip of "Point Loma' a long peninsula dipping south from the city toward Mexico, with a small rise on the end coming to a "Point" we KNEW we were almost home. I was a radar operator, so we would see the "Point" a long time before anyone on the radar scopes. I imagine sailors in long ago days, felt so relieved when they saw a rock, point, or other landmark that they recognized as near their destination. These "Rocks" don't move, they have been there for millions of years, and if we see them, we use them as guides to show us were to go.
"Who but our God is a solid rock?" EVERYTHING changes, change is a constant, except with God. He will change you, He will change your circumstances if you believe in Him and ask, but HE WILL NEVER CHANGE. You know the saying: "Change is good?" It is good for us to have change in our life, BUT not in our God. He is the one we look to when we are trying to find a safe harbor. He is the one we rely on when the storms are rising, and we don't know where we are. The waves are pounding, the wind is blowing hard, the waves are coming in over the deck, the ship is rocking. But look, up ahead, through the clouds and waves, I think, no I did there it is the ROCK. I know where we are now, we are close to the harbor, we'll make it. Jesus Christ is that rock, He is that harbor of safety He is constant never changing, always there. We may turn our backs on Him, but when we turn back around and realize how stupid we were to leave, He is still right there. We can run, and run and feel like we are so far away from Him, but when we turn around there He is right were we left Him, about 2 feet behind us. We thought we ran a long ways away from Him, but no, we are still in arms reach.
Like that fog that night years ago, God is constant. The trials of this world mean nothing to Him, like the ups and downs of that highway. Just focus, concentrate, you'll see Him in that fog. See, there He is, look into those eyes, those wonderful all knowing wise eyes. Relax, He knows the way, your almost safe in His harbor.
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