Out of the Fog

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am…” John 17:24

In 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters off of Catalina Island, California determined to swim to the mainland. She already enjoyed the accomplishment of making history being the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways. Her mother followed in a small boat beside her as she swam towards the mainland regardless of the foggy and chilly day. When Florence became too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, she begged her mother to pull her out of the water. “It wasn’t until she was on board that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day, she said, ‘All I could see was the fog…I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.’” We Shall See God, Randy Alcorn, p. 5

How many times have we felt that same way? Exhausted from the ‘swim’ from which we have been laboring…Deep ‘spiritual breaststrokes’ that seem to get us nowhere…Begging to be lifted out of the ‘water’ of our circumstances. We have all been there whether it is our job, our marriage, our health, our friends, or even our grief. ‘When you face discouragement, difficulty, or fatigue, or when you feel surrounded by the fog of uncertain circumstances, are you thinking, ‘If only I could see the shore, I could make it?’ p. 5

Our verse this morning, gently reminds us that where ever we are, we are with Jesus. He not only is with us in the swim, but as the verse says He longs to be with us. He sees the shoreline when we are blinded by our emotions. He knows the day our pain shall be our past, and our present shall be when we step on the shores of Heaven one day. But until then, Jesus is in every second of every moment as we navigate Home. It is so important to keep our eyes on the shores of Heaven even when the fog of earth rolls in. ‘Death is a gateway to full union with Christ and never-ending joy.’ p. 6