Kathy

Cheek

I read a devotional the other day on trusting God through the fog, the writer recounting a difficult drive down a foggy mountain road and trusting God to take her safely home.

I have not had that experience of driving down a foggy mountain road. And yet, recently ... I created my own fog on a bright sunny day.

Nothing had changed. A blinding fog did not roll in and obscure my view.

I just took my eyes off what God can do and let circumstances overwhelm me with doubt and fear. I was not a friend to myself. I was a saboteur of my own journey.

For a while I let a thick fog swirl around me and swallow up my hope and faith and pull me into a dark place where discouragement filled my heart.

We all have those days when praying, waiting, and working toward something are met with discouragement. We often find we derail our confidence in the Lord with our own weakness and wrong thinking because for a while we take our eyes off of Him and instead let a fog of doubt and worry surround us. The fog comes rolling in when I take my eyes off of the Lord.

It is a miserable place to be when we feel like we have lost our way and can’t find a clear solution.

There are multiple possibilities for our discouragement. Here are just a few:

• We become impatient because we have already waited a very long time for answers.
• We might convince ourselves we have asked for too much or too big and back down from our asking.
• We don’t see any signs of change in our difficult situation and hopelessness leads to great frustration.
• Our task looks too complicated to complete and we feel like giving up.

We will all go through discouragement when faced with the above type scenarios. But will we let discouragement rule our lives or will we place our trust in God to work those things that we can’t comprehend? Will we remind ourselves how He has worked for our good in other difficult times?

When I realized that all the negativity I was experiencing was a product of my own doing and my reasons for discouragement were based on feelings and emotions run amuck, the fog began to lift and clear thinking prevailed. I stood my ground with faith and trust and let the sun break through all the fog.

When my self-imposed fog lifted and I experienced the fresh air of hope and faith once more, I truly felt a wave of energy surge through my body, heart, and soul. God’s indwelling spirit renewed me and I welcomed His faithfulness to me as His strength overcame my weakness and I felt strong and whole. The sky was blue again, the sun was shining, and all fog had lifted away.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

I didn’t grow up in church. I didn’t learn the stories of David and Goliath or Joseph and his coat of many colors, or his brothers who plotted to kill him. I didn’t know about Abraham and Isaac, or Daniel and the lion’s den. I didn’t know about Baby Jesus in a manger or Paul meeting Jesus on the Road to Damascus when he was still named Saul. I didn’t know about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea or about Noah and the ark or Jonah in the whale. 

But I learned these stories after I was saved and reading my Bible. I also heard them in the context of messages in church and Sunday school classes and other Bible studies. They are not mere stories. They are true accounts of men and women God chose to place in the Holy infallible scriptures for our benefit. We are to learn from them. 

I have my favorites. I call them the heroes of my faith. Their stories and struggles, their victories and faith have taught me the most. We all need heroes. here are a few of mine:

When I need courage to face a giant, I remember David. And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 

It was in the fall of 1992 that our tiny newborn baby girl Bonnie Colleen was born dying. And she did two days later. Some might say it seems cruel for God to let someone carry a baby to term and give birth to a baby that only lives two days. A baby that was born dying because of multiple complications at birth seems cruel.

But I can testify that even in the worst pain, I knew God's love and God's comfort. I could bear the pain because He was carrying me and my pain. What I felt of His love was tangible around me. I knew He wanted me to know His presence was strong around me. I knew life and death were in His hands and for reasons I do not know, I knew He allowed this. And He trusted me to not turn away. His love for me had been woven in the fabric of my life. I knew God had not stopped loving me and I clung to that for dear life. I knew He would heal me from the grief. With a love and comfort that cannot be measured – He did.

Many years later, a friend of mine met someone who recently moved into her neighborhood, and this lady and her husband had a two-month-old baby boy who had just died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The lady, Diana, (not real name) was inconsolable in her grief to the point the husband was considering committing her to a hospital. Linda, my friend who had just learned of all this going on with her new neighbors, shared all of this in a prayer request at our women's Bible Study. She also shared that Diana and her husband were not Christians, and did not have any family in town.

I hadn't known Linda a very long time, and she wasn't aware that many years ago, I had a newborn baby girl that only lived two days. I knew about loss and grief. I knew the pain of going through that difficult journey, but I also knew the Lord carried me through, both my husband and myself. I wanted Diana to know that with time and God's help, we do move from the hurting place of grief to a healing place.

Linda called Diana and asked her if she would be willing to talk to me, and told her a little of my story. Diana was quite eager to meet with me. She was thankful to have someone to talk to about her loss.

I met with her many times, and Linda checked on her frequently since she was on the same street. Diana was saved during that time, and she immediately improved in her ability to cope with her loss. She had hope now for seeing her child again, and she had hope for herself. She read her Bible every day and started going to church and asked us to pray for her husband. He was glad she was doing better, but didn't seem to be open to the gospel as Diana had been. But, we all kept praying for him.

I continued to regularly meet with Diana for over a year, and I will always remember the day she said she knew she was doing much better because she had begun to enjoy things again that she hadn't enjoyed in a long time. And that getting together with me for lunch was no longer just to talk about how she was doing, but to talk about all kinds of things, small talk, normal talk of family and church and work. She knew she had come a long way when she just wanted to get together for the purpose of spending time with a friend. That's when I knew she was in a healing place.

The same God who healed me from my loss, healed Diana and I am grateful I could help her along her healing journey.

I read the Psalms more than any other portion of my Bible. I take comfort and I am deeply encouraged by the strong and poetic words written by its major author, a shepherd warrior king. I have a long list of favorite verses and passages from the Psalms that I turn to often and am blessed each time I read them. (See my favorite passage from Psalm below.)

And yet, when I read the story of David’s life in the books of I and II Samuel, it is wrought with danger, battles, and heartache.

We see David anointed king at a young age by the prophet Samuel. We see him victoriously kill the giant Goliath with a slingshot and go on to become a great warrior. The chant “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” puts his life in jeopardy, making him the sworn enemy of King Saul, who becomes jealous and attempts to kill him at every turn. When he is eventually crowned king of Israel, he is engaged in constant war and battles with enemies who surround God’s chosen people and with enemies among his own people.

Yes, he writes about battles in the Psalms. But he writes more about victory given by the hand of God. We see God’s sovereign hand of guidance and protection and we hear David declare that our battles belong to the Lord.

He proclaims God is his strength, his refuge, hiding place, strong tower, and his shelter in the storm.

He writes praise, worship, thanksgiving, and he beautifully writes (in Psalm 23):

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want…
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…

We see David rise, fall, and rise again; and we learn from this shepherd warrior king that there is no sin that cannot be washed away and forgiven. We learn that our Holy Almighty God is a God of healing and restoration.

We see David’s battles and we see the victories only God can bring. We read this psalmist's praise unto the Lord in words modern poets cannot duplicate. He teaches us to hide God's Word in our heart, and he teaches us through Psalm after Psalm that our hearts are made to worship.

When I reflect on David, I learn a lot about my God:

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.

Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.

Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.

My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

~

My cellphone suddenly crashed and died, and my immediate thought was, What if I have car trouble while I am out?

I reminded myself my trust is in God, not in my phone. God has been rescuing people out of jams long before cellphones came along. I also reminded myself of a favorite verse that has been an encouragement to me in many of life’s uncertain situations: