Devotional from Pastor Dave October 25, 2023

Last Friday, a couple of church members and I went for a hike on the Mullens Cove Loop in the Prentice Cooper State Forest. Along the way is the promontory called Snoopers Rock. I had been looking forward to going to Snoopers Rock because I had heard that the view of the Tennessee River valley from there is the most magnificent in the whole area.

Well, when we arrived there, we couldn’t see a thing in front of us but clouds. The whole view was shrouded in fog. I took a photo anyway and was about to suggest we keep going and come back another time, since it seemed like we “mist” the view that day. But one of the guys suggested we hang out for a bit and see what happens.

In what seemed like no time, the fog began to thin, and we started to see glimpses of the gleaming river far below us. Then in short order the side of Elder Mountain rising up from the river was unveiled. Before too long, the entire vista opened up before us, leaving only a few wisps of clouds floating against a backdrop of brilliant blue sky.

I looked back at the time stamps on the photos I had taken and marveled that the entire transformation took place in a mere five minutes. We were so grateful we stuck around to see it, and we all agreed that the whole nearly ten-mile hike was well worth that one experience.

I’ve been contemplating this since last Friday. I looked up and found the few scriptures that address fog and mist. Some of the references are positive, describing the mist that used to rise from the earth and water the ground before there was such a thing as rain (Genesis 2:6). Some of the references are negative, comparing the loyalty of the people to the Lord to the transiency of the morning fog (Hosea 6:4, 13:3). One is particularly sobering. It reminds us that we never know what tomorrow may bring and then asks us, “what is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

But I also find inspiration in the experience itself, and I wonder how often have I found myself in somewhat of a fog, the view ahead of me unclear and uncertain? How often would I rather just plow ahead on the path that I can see instead of waiting around a little while for an even better and clearer view to open before me?

Maybe you have found yourself in a similar situation, caught in a fog, the view unclear. But the hope and the promise of the gospel is that the Son-light, the light of Christ, shines in the fog as well as in the darkness, and that neither the fog nor the darkness ultimately envelope or overcome the light (John 1:5). Sometimes we just have to wait a little while longer for the light to break through, for the fog to lift, and the view to become clear.