Rising Above the Fog

Luke 9:23–36 NKJV

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.” Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

Have you ever been in a fog?

I remember years ago driving east from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Broken Arrow on the morning of a very dense fog. I couldn’t see oncoming cars in the other land until they were passing by me. I had to drive fast enough to keep up with the taillights of the car in front of me in order to manage the turns in the road and when to brake. It was a nerve-racking morning that gave me a lot of reason to pray!

The Worst Automobile Pile Up in History: The worst automobile pile up in history in foggy conditions took place on September 15, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Over 300 vehicles crashed into one another. The accident stretched for over one mile with some cars catching fire. 30 injuries were reported but, miraculously, only one death.

The Account of Florence Chadwick: On July 4, 1952, a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island to swim the channel to the California coast. It happened to be a densely foggy morning. Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she quit. . . only one-mile from her goal. Later she said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it.” It wasn’t the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog. Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because she could see the land. —John Cochran (www.bible.org)

Have you ever been in a spiritual fog?

Everything seemed so clear along your journey and then you hit a wall of spiritual fog.

Fog doesn’t change reality; everything around you is still there. The problem is that you can’t see anything.

Fog blurs the truth and clouds our thinking.

Fog can be suffocating. We feel cut off and alone. Sometimes we don’t sense God.

Fog can settle in on us in many ways.

Adverse circumstances

Distractions of life

Obsessions

Fear and worry

Relationship problems

Life altering events

Death of a loved one

The Challenges of Spiritual Fog

We lose our sense of perspective.

We can’t see things from God’s perspective.

We lose our sense of bearing.

We feel lost and have no idea where we are.

We lose our sense of direction.

We become afraid and feel alone.

We lose our sense of connection with God.

We feel isolated and alone.

The disciples were surrounded by a cloud or fog.

They had lost their heavenly perspective.

They were confused and afraid.

They didn’t know what to do.

They lost sight of Jesus.

Rising Above the Fog

Illustration: Two Types of Flying:

“Flying by the seat of your pants”: Depending on your own vision and sense of direction without instruments.

Flying by Instruments: Flying with complete dependence upon the instruments and the air traffic controller rather by your own judgment.

We must learn to regain God’s perspective. (Radar)

Peter saw things from his perspective and spoke rashly.

We must get our eyes off people, things, circumstances, and events.

We must listen for God’s voice. (Air Traffic Controller)

The disciples heard God’s voice in the fog.

We must learn to heed His word. (Instrument Panel)

The disciples heard the word of God regarding His Son.

The instrument panel of the word of God. Don’t trust yourself.

We must learn to follow Jesus. (Pilot)

When the fog lifted, they saw only Jesus.

We must get out of the pilot seat, and let Jesus be our Pilot!

Response to the Word

Have you been in a spiritual fog?

It is time to regain God’s perspective.

God is at work when you can’t see Him.

It is time to listen for God’s voice.

God is speaking now.

It is time to heed God’s Word.

Trust God’s word and not your own insight.

It is time to follow Jesus.

It is time to get out of the driver’s seat and let Jesus take control.

It is time to rise above the fog!