Of Fog...

Mmmm, fog.

All that I ever needed to know, I learned in Greek class. Yet I have forgotten most everything about the language, aside from randomly singing the Greek alphabet every once and a while. So what is it that has stuck with me these past few years?

Fog.

My professor summed it up so well: "You will always be in a fog while you are in the midst of learning something new about the language. Then after a few weeks, what you thought was so difficult and confusing will become clear as day." Yes, this applies to language-learning– I tell this to my students quite often, and I tell this to myself as I study Chinese– but it has much broader implications, much more than just struggling with verb conjugations or complicated vocabulary.

In every major decision we make, there will be fog. Whenever we feel He is leading us, doubt will rear its ugly head– Is this really God calling me or is this just what I think God is calling me to? And the fog is relentless; it won't lift until weeks, months, or even years after it's all said and done.

It is just a fact of life. Our knowledge is finite. In fact, Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 13, when he states, "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." Paul's taking things a step farther! The only time we will wholly understand anything will be when we are face to face with God. So it seems that fog will always be with us here on earth. Such is life.

As Philip Yancey wrote, "Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse" (Disappointment with God). And our journey testifies to that. It didn't make sense for us to go to China only two months after getting married and three months after graduating. It didn't make sense for us to decide to return to the States without having a job lined up. And it doesn't make sense for us to head back to China after coming back to the States for only a year. 

Yet onward we march, pressing through the fog, having faith that He will guide us through that which shrouds our view. And it will all make sense... someday.