Fog veiled what lay ahead; darkness blanketed the past.
Rain pelted against the windshield — my car shrouded in fog and blackness of night. The headlights searched for a path on the winding mountain road. Fog veiled what lay ahead; darkness blanketed the past. The swish, swish of the wipers brushed the tears of heaven to the side.
I couldn’t help but think about the parallel in my life — the whys, the hows, the wheres — draped all about me like a foggy veil with relentless darkness behind me. Blinding tears fell freely and often. How would I ever find my way?
Lord, are You there?
Inching along the mountain road, I found my way by depending on the power of the small beams of light streaming from the front of my car. I couldn’t see very far, but I could see right in front of me. I realized I was leaning on instinct also because I knew this road — where the drop-offs were and the “S” curve.
I trusted in that which I knew.
The Lord reminded me of a Scripture I read that morning, “Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face” (Psalm 5:8).
Yes, Lord. Lead me because the enemies of my soul have tried to make me lose my way. Things are fogged with confusion and darkened with fear. But Your light, O Lord — Your light guides me.
When I finally made it home, I searched through my Bible to, once again, read Psalm 5:8. A cross-reference took me to Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
What a beloved Scripture!
But the Lord took me deeper.
Trust Him when you can;t see through the fog.
The Hebrew word for “acknowledge” is yada, meaning “to know through observation, investigation, reflection, or firsthand experience. The highest level of yada means to be in direct, intimate contact.” *
Acknowledge the Lord and He will direct my paths …
Observe His ways. Investigate and study His Word. Reflect on His goodness and, through firsthand experience remember His faithfulness. In all my ways acknowledge Him through direct, intimate contact — and He will direct my paths.
The Lord will make His way straight before me.
And through the foggy veil of my future, and the darkness covering my past, the light of His love will lead me through the storm all the way home.
Sweet friend, is your path veiled by fog also? Do you find yourself confused, afraid — maybe disillusioned by this thing called faith? The Lord desires to make Himself known to you. Call out to Him. Dare to take Him at His Word.
And allow Him to take your hand and lead you by the light of His love through the shroud of fog and the darkness from your past.
He will direct your paths.
- commentary from Spirit Filled Life Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002, page 807
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I never thought to look up those words specifically in the original language. How delightful to learn how much deeper this verse goes than just not leaning on our own knowledge and understanding but to observe intimately. I will write this down for further reflection. Thank you for this insight into God’s faithfulness to us.
You’re so welcome! I love to go on “treasure hunts” in God’s Word 🙂
Wow, that was deep! I loved the result of your treasure hunt, too.
I’m slowly coming back to God’s school, and a what a great teacher we have! The Holy Spirit doesn’t grow weary repeating the same lesson many times, explaining it again in a thousand different ways so that we’ll finally understand it and live it.
For the last month or so, He’s been directing my paths in more ways than I can share in a short comment. And I’ve been challenged to stay in His presence and then share His teachings with His people. Today, after 3 1/2 years of absence, I added a new entry to my blog. I know the Lord has given me eyes to see and ears to hear so that with His Spirit, I (as an unworthy but precious vessel) will heal the blind with His Word.
Your help, Nan, has been invaluable, and I thank you from deep in my heart! I hope that, as you’ve so often encouraged me, the Lord will use me to encourage you!
Please know that what you’re doing here is very important to us. Keep giving as you receive, and my prayer is that many of us who are blessed will be vessels of blessing for others as you are!
Oh Carina, thank you for such kind words. And thank you for sharing what the Lord is doing in your life. I would love for you to share a link to your blog here in the comments, if you’d like. I’m proud of you for taking that important step of faith.
Of course.
My blog address is http://knowtruthbefree.blogspot.com.ar (try it without the “ar” if it doesn’t work for you, but I think it redirects automatically and will work both ways).
The entry I’ve added is
http://knowtruthbefree.blogspot.com.ar/2016/10/backsliding-part-2-coming-back.html
Nan, I’m with you. I love to go on “treasure hunts” through the word. Thanks for sharing.
I know! There’s nothing like it, is there?
Thanks, Nan, for the reminder that no matter how foggy things seem to us at the time, God clearly sees and leads us. He knows the way, and we look to Him. Loved also the word study on “acknowledge.” Great post!
Thank you Crickett. And thanks for stopping by.
Thank you for the reminder that God is there. I love researching words. I looked up acknowledge. Yada-I thought of people who said yada yada when they did not know what else to say. We know beyond any shadow of a doubt what to say, “Our God reigns and will never leave us nor forsake us.” We can acknowledge that daily.
That’s great Cherrilynn! I hadn’t thought about yada, yada, yada 😉 Yes, our God reigns and will never leave us nor forsake us. And we know that through “yada” – observing, investigating, reflection, and intimate contact … acknowledge. I think I’ll be saying, “yada, yada, yada” all day now 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Oh my stars Nan, I love article! “Brushing away the tears of heaven,” being reminded to “Trust in the Lord with all our heart…” and learning the Hebrew meaning of the word “acknowledge!” This meaning, places the phrase, “Yada,yada, yada” in a whole new light. Thank you for reminding us to have direct and firsthand experience with our Lord and Savior.
Thank you for your kind words, April. I think of you often – you inspire me in my own struggles. What a blessing you are. Thank you for stopping by.
I love your word pictures. The picture of God directing us through the fog is an apt one. Thank you for writing!
You’re so precious. Thank you. I’m a visual learner. The Lord is so wonderful to help me learn His precepts through visuals. Then I have the honor of sharing them with others.