For as long as I live, I’ll never get over the way clouds can hide mountains. This fascinating phenomenon reminds me that there are things going on beyond what we can see. That there is something sure and steady, no matter what it seems. I know those mountains are there, even when they are hidden from view. I’ve climbed them, felt the rock firm beneath my feet. I know what I have seen, no matter what mist descends to try to obscure it. This is faith. These views remind me that, as people who know Jesus is the only firm foundation, we walk by faith, not by sight.
near Willow, Alaska
I spent a good part of the summer driving through the mountains of Alaska with my family. My husband and kids witnessed the wonder in my eyes each time I pressed my face to the glass to catch a glimpse of the cloud-covered peaks that surrounded us. I was simply awestruck, because to me, those cloud-veils don’t really hide the majesty behind them. They point straight to it.
That sense of wonder turned to fear, however, when the fog descended all the way to the ground one night, obscuring the path in front of us. It’s terrifying when you’re plowing ahead at 60 mph and suddenly you have no idea what’s right in front of you. Slowing down is a good idea, of course, but you can’t just come to a dead stop and stay there indefinitely. You’ve got to keep moving.
So the question, then, becomes this:
Is the God you trusted on the clear open road when skies were blue still just as sovereign over this road on which you cannot see a thing?
Or another piercing question:
Was it really Him I was trusting before when I could see, or was I trusting my own sight?
Our daughter had a bad fall while we were traveling, one severe enough to necessitate being transported by helicopter to the nearest city 200 miles away, and we could not accompany her. The paramedics blocked off traffic to land the helicopter in the middle of the street, and we sent her off with them, not knowing in what condition we would find our child at the other end.
There was nothing we could do but load our other kids in the car and drive the long 3.5 hours to the hospital, along a road with limited cell phone coverage. The weather was clear, but we could not see the road in front of us. We did not know whether or not our four-year-old daughter would be ok. Honestly, a big part of us expected she would not, based on what we had seen and the notable concern of two different crews of paramedics. Her sisters, having witnessed the gruesome details of the fall, wondered if we would “get her back” at all. But we walk by faith, not by sight…
“We walk by faith, not by sight…”
-2 Corinthians 5:7
And so we prayed. We called on friends to pray. And we trusted in the God we know hears our prayers, the God we know is good, no matter how He answers. This was the same God we had just worshiped as we watched the mountains in wonder. The God who can see just as well on the dark and foggy roads as in the fullness of daylight, even if we cannot. And so we drove forward in faith, with the words of Psalm 139 echoing in our minds: “All my days were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”He always knew we would live this day, and He alone could see beyond it.
“…even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.”
-Psalm 139:12
Our little girl was prayed for fervently as she flew, sleeping, through the skies. We would not be there to meet her when she landed or hold her hand when she underwent tests at the hospital. But the God who answers prayer, the God who knows our days and prepares a safety net to catch us when we fall, had placed some dear friends on the other end who happened to be in town for an event and were just down the street from the hospital. When they heard our daughter was headed there alone, they met her there without us asking, and they stayed. By divine providence, they were allowed to go back with her and act as her guardians, remaining with her the entire time. She was never alone.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”
-Psalm 23:4
The Lord intervened for us, in more ways than one. Unexpectedly, our little girl was soon alert and acting like her normal self, thrilled to see her beloved Sunday school teachers who happen to have a special way with children. They held her, accompanied her during her tests, helped her name her new stuffed animals, and shared all the popsicles a girl could want. The tests soon came back clear, and she was discharged, emerging from the terrible ordeal miraculously unscathed, praise God! I’m certain He heard the earnest prayers of the many who were interceding on her behalf.
When things get scary, Jesus is our solid rock. The outcome will not always be so good, I know. Perhaps it hasn’t been for you. At some point, we all will be called upon to walk through suffering, because none of us makes it out of this broken world alive. But I know, deep in my bones, that God is good. He is faithful to those who look to Him, both when He comes through for us in the ways we hope for and even still when He takes us down a path we wouldn’t choose. The things that look and feel like blinding darkness to us cannot change who He is, or how much He loves us. Our God is with us in the darkness, He can see beyond it, and He will get us to the other side.
“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”
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