Fog

               As a girl I enjoyed fog. In fact, I was intrigued by it and perhaps even frightened to enter its denseness. But once I walked into the cool mist and felt tender droplets of precipitation, I liked it and found it refreshing. It was also fun to disappear in its covering, unnoticed and secretive…to be alone. Despite the discovery that fog was simply clouds that had fallen to the ground, this information didn’t change my fascination with its fantasy appeal.

               However, when I began driving vehicles, I developed a different opinion of fog. I found it still mysterious and luring, but I also found it dangerous, especially at night.  I acquired a special kind of respect for it and tried to avoid meeting it in the dark.

               As the years passed, my thoughts concerning fog passed as well.  But, one day as I was reading in Exodus, I entertained new thoughts in regard to fog.  When the Israelites left Egypt and journeyed to the Promised Land, “the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.”  Exodus 13:21

               Then, later in Exodus 24: 15-16, Moses met God on Mount Sinai.  “Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”

               Furthermore, after the tabernacle was completed, God once again appeared in the form of a cloud. “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”  Exodus 40:34. Consequently, “Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up.”  Exodus 40: 36-37

               When I reflected upon these events from Exodus, I couldn’t help but be drawn back to my childhood encounters with fog.  The clouds that had descended to the earth had stirred my imagination, and I had discovered a new found friend. In the stated excerpts from Exodus, God’s presence was made known by the cloud. Could it be that God’s presence could be known in the fog as well?

               To seek the answer, a few weeks ago when I woke up to fog, I couldn’t help but step outside.  The same cool mist as a child greeted me now as I walked down our driveway’s path. I felt exhilarated, renewed, and yes, maybe a bit giddy, like my childish self, but these emotions were real.  I stopped briefly, listened to the whispers of the wind and felt the nearness of my Heavenly Father hidden in the fog.  Walking back home, I noticed the sun making its appearance through nature’s grey, sheer curtain. I could only smile as my thoughts traced back to the Israelites.  As God descended in a cloud to lead the Israelites, perhaps He joins us in the fog to lead us as well.

“And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.” Exodus 33: 9