You drive a road for years and adapt to the curves. You know when to speed up or slow down, and you watch farther down the road for that hidden roadway that always seems to have someone entering or exiting.
Your landmarks are the familiar points you’ve seen hundreds of times.
It’s like living on Autopilot.
But then, add the night. Extra dark. No stars through the trees, nor moon over the mountains.
Okay. It’s a bit different. You can’t see that tree you always look for or the house/business for a normal turn. Maybe you slow down. A lot!
Then, add dense fog. Yes. We have a lot of that in my neck of the woods. One mile, it’s here, and the next, it’s gone.
Suddenly, and if you’re not careful, you feel like driving the strangest road you’ve ever been on. It should feel familiar, but it’s suddenly not. Whoa! Where did that curve come from? Am I even on Planet Earth?
This was my drive last night. They used to call this kind of fog “pea soup,” but today, they just call it dense—thick. You could even consider the road differently when the rain falls in buckets or flows down as thick snow.
As I gave the road my complete attention, another thought popped alongside.
This is probably how life feels when the way forward seems unclear.
What you’ve been doing is no longer familiar.
Everything is muddied and that includes your once near-perfect vision.
There is no clarity to that particular point of life.
I was walking the dogs in the back pasture recently. Just a week or so back. It was night, late, and the fog was dripping from the trees. I’m used to walking without a light, but recent foot and ankle issues have made me feel the uneven ground more succinctly. I’ve been here thousands of times, but suddenly, it felt strange. There was a feeling of unfamiliarity, but I knew this ground. The trees, clumps, low-hanging branches, and even the hole where the dogs dug for gold – moles, rocks, truffles, and the like!
In this spot of life, you can imagine danger around every corner. Lurkers!
Of course, when life is foggy, you are not in the best place to trust what you thought you knew.
This tidbit finds all of us at one time or another. Life may have felt familiar, but the fog has crept in, and suddenly, you don’t know what to do.
Pause, wait, take it slowly, don’t move quickly, and consider the possibilities and consequences before you act. There’s nothing like doing something you think is right, but the situation’s unfamiliarity should make you rethink. Step aside. Wait. The fog will lift, and life will resume.
This scripture speaks to me when the way is overly busy, or unfamiliar…
And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
(Mark 6:31 NKJV)
Step aside. There’s nothing to fear. Regroup. Replenish. Refresh… When it’s time, you can make better progress.
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