Tracie Miles
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
I was full of emotions as my husband and I drove to pick up my dad for surgery. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I was worried about the extensive surgery that he would face later that morning. I was anxious, knowing that the possibility existed to receive very bad news from the surgeon. I was fretting over various circumstances, and as I prayed for God to intervene, I began to feel hot tears stinging my eyes.
But then, through those tears, I saw something in the fog.
Due to the dense, heavy fog, my husband was driving slowly when I noticed the figure in the distance, walking straight towards us. I thought it was odd for anyone to be walking outside on such a cool and foggy morning, but as we got closer, my eyes widened, and my heart began to pound.
This figure began to resemble a silhouette of someone I recognized - someone who should not be standing in the middle of the road on a misty, foggy morning. As we approached this person, in front of my dad's house, I noticed that he had on baggy tan pants, a soft white shirt, and was wearing no shoes. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with brown wavy hair and a full beard, neatly kept. He looked peaceful and kind.
He looked exactly like Jesus.
My heart skipped a beat. My thoughts were racing. My intellectual mind knew that Jesus would not be standing in the middle of a road on a foggy day in a small beach town in North Carolina, but my heart told me that He was there. I could not take my eyes off of this person, as chill bumps flushed my body from head to toe. As we drove slowly past him, this man in the fog made direct eye contact with me, and a sweet, gentle smile washed over his face.
For those brief moments, it felt as if I was looking into the eyes of Jesus, and a feeling of peace flooded through me. It was as if His holy peace penetrated my heart, and assured me that, regardless of the outcome, everything would be okay. Throughout that day at the hospital, I could not get the man in the fog out of my head, and I truly felt as if I had experienced a Jesus encounter.
Now I am not saying that I actually saw Jesus, of course, but I do believe that He divinely designed that meeting in the road, and that He used a sign that I would recognize as Him, to saturate my heart with the reminder that He really does walk among us. God knew I needed to know that He saw my daddy, understood my fears, and cared. He also knew I really needed to "see" Him that day.
Throughout life, we are all faced with fears of the unknown and personal problems that seem hopeless or scary, and it is so easy to get caught up in our emotions, forgetting to look for God. In some situations, we may even find ourselves wondering if God is really aware of our problems, and doubt if He really cares, but 1 Peter 5:7 is a sweet reminder that He is aware, He does care, and He is with us.
At times, life can make us feel like we are in a fog - a fog so dense and heavy that it seems nearly impossible to feel or see God at all. But even if we can't "see" Him, He has promised to be with us, if we surrender our hearts and sincerely seek out His face. Then as we walk with Him, and sincerely believe He is walking with us, we enter into a place to receive His provisions, His blessings, His comfort and His peace.
When we prepare our hearts to experience Him, He will prepare our eyes to see Him.
Dear Lord, I seek Your Face with my whole heart. Help me to see You in a special way. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know Him?
Journey to the Well by Diana Wallis Taylor
Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch by Max Lucado
Visit Tracie at her blog today
Application Steps:
If you are full of fearful or discouraged emotions today, close your eyes - picture Jesus walking in the fog, straight towards you, with eyes full of love, a heart full of compassion, and a smile that melts you heart.
Reflections:
Have I had a hard time seeing God in the midst of my life lately?
Are emotions and doubts clouding my vision?
Do I fully trust God to work in my situations?
Power Verses:
Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (KJV)
Matthew 5:8, "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." (MSG)
© 2010 by Tracie Miles. All rights reserved.
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
I was full of emotions as my husband and I drove to pick up my dad for surgery. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I was worried about the extensive surgery that he would face later that morning. I was anxious, knowing that the possibility existed to receive very bad news from the surgeon. I was fretting over various circumstances, and as I prayed for God to intervene, I began to feel hot tears stinging my eyes.
But then, through those tears, I saw something in the fog.
Due to the dense, heavy fog, my husband was driving slowly when I noticed the figure in the distance, walking straight towards us. I thought it was odd for anyone to be walking outside on such a cool and foggy morning, but as we got closer, my eyes widened, and my heart began to pound.
This figure began to resemble a silhouette of someone I recognized - someone who should not be standing in the middle of the road on a misty, foggy morning. As we approached this person, in front of my dad's house, I noticed that he had on baggy tan pants, a soft white shirt, and was wearing no shoes. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with brown wavy hair and a full beard, neatly kept. He looked peaceful and kind.
He looked exactly like Jesus.
My heart skipped a beat. My thoughts were racing. My intellectual mind knew that Jesus would not be standing in the middle of a road on a foggy day in a small beach town in North Carolina, but my heart told me that He was there. I could not take my eyes off of this person, as chill bumps flushed my body from head to toe. As we drove slowly past him, this man in the fog made direct eye contact with me, and a sweet, gentle smile washed over his face.
For those brief moments, it felt as if I was looking into the eyes of Jesus, and a feeling of peace flooded through me. It was as if His holy peace penetrated my heart, and assured me that, regardless of the outcome, everything would be okay. Throughout that day at the hospital, I could not get the man in the fog out of my head, and I truly felt as if I had experienced a Jesus encounter.
Now I am not saying that I actually saw Jesus, of course, but I do believe that He divinely designed that meeting in the road, and that He used a sign that I would recognize as Him, to saturate my heart with the reminder that He really does walk among us. God knew I needed to know that He saw my daddy, understood my fears, and cared. He also knew I really needed to "see" Him that day.
Throughout life, we are all faced with fears of the unknown and personal problems that seem hopeless or scary, and it is so easy to get caught up in our emotions, forgetting to look for God. In some situations, we may even find ourselves wondering if God is really aware of our problems, and doubt if He really cares, but 1 Peter 5:7 is a sweet reminder that He is aware, He does care, and He is with us.
At times, life can make us feel like we are in a fog - a fog so dense and heavy that it seems nearly impossible to feel or see God at all. But even if we can't "see" Him, He has promised to be with us, if we surrender our hearts and sincerely seek out His face. Then as we walk with Him, and sincerely believe He is walking with us, we enter into a place to receive His provisions, His blessings, His comfort and His peace.
When we prepare our hearts to experience Him, He will prepare our eyes to see Him.
Dear Lord, I seek Your Face with my whole heart. Help me to see You in a special way. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know Him?
Journey to the Well by Diana Wallis Taylor
Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch by Max Lucado
Visit Tracie at her blog today
Application Steps:
If you are full of fearful or discouraged emotions today, close your eyes - picture Jesus walking in the fog, straight towards you, with eyes full of love, a heart full of compassion, and a smile that melts you heart.
Reflections:
Have I had a hard time seeing God in the midst of my life lately?
Are emotions and doubts clouding my vision?
Do I fully trust God to work in my situations?
Power Verses:
Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (KJV)
Matthew 5:8, "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." (MSG)
© 2010 by Tracie Miles. All rights reserved.
Labels: God's Perspective, Overcoming Fear, Purity, Trusting God, Waiting On God, Walking in Faith
15 Comments:
Justina from RSA
thank you so much for the post this is what i really need. Of late i have been going through so much at work that i even thought of throwing the towel. please pray with me.
hi
A lady at my church called me and gave me the same scripture, reading ur message today was my "fog" moment.
The lord knows how to get our attention.
I thank God for the Proverb 31 Ministries. These daily devotionals are exactly what I need - I need this daily encouragement as I am surrounded by negativity at work. Being reminded of God's love, mercy and grace helps me to keep a smile on my face and remain positive.
I need to see Jesus in the fog. It is so difficult to see him at times and I am thankful for this reminder. I am in Grad school taking more than a full course load, recently received a promotion at work, and feel I have too much "on my plate." I worry if I'll get an "A" all the time as I often feel the need for perfection. This gentle devotion reminds me that no plate is too full for God; and in His hands all things are taken care of. Praise be to God for being Faithful to the faithless. I needed this reminder today.
I have been struggling with knowing God's will in my life lately. Relationship worries and the stress of college have me anxious, stressed and worried all of the time making it hard to focus on daily tasks. Thank you for these daily devotionals-as they are usually exactly what I need to hear each day.
LORD, help me to give my worries to you and know that you are with me at every moment.
please pray for me to come out of the fog. i so desperatly need to see god in the sun..
As we face foreclosure on our nest egg home, my family is given a peace that passes understanding. He is providing open doors in the our fog that we could only see if we are watching him
THanks for your ministry it really is a blessing, most days I think you are writing only for me
God bless you
Thank you so much for this thought. Past one week was a tough one for us..Lots of questions, doubts, fears and anxities...I'm glad that God uses people to speak to me..."Dont worry...I'm in control." Thank God for all the moments that He made himself visible to me in the thick dark fog of life.
I have experienced alot of fear in my life although I have been a Christian for 30+ years.I finally realized I could not do anything good by worrying. I have one child and I worried everytime she was not with me. I finally turned her over to the Lord to watch over her. When she is not home at night I still can go to bed and sleep because I know He has His hand upon her. If something would happen I know that He will give me the peace to go throuh it. I appreciate the Proverbs 31 ministries, I read them everyday.
Denise
Oh my! What a powerful testimony!
This is an experience that got you through that day and will continue to get you through difficult times that might lie ahead.
I do believe you saw Jesus, for I believe that it is His choice to reveal Himself to those He chooses.
One lesson I take away from your post is that when we focus our attention on Jesus, everything else pales in comparison...our fears, our sadness. Everything becomes secondary to Him. That's what this Christian walk is all about.
Wow... that is the biggest word I could find to convey my reaction to this blog, yet it is woefully inadequate. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I am so excited to read this post today.I got goose bumps reading it, for real! Several years back I was awakened from my sleep to see a man, in his 30's standing over me. Only he was in a dark blue three piece suit. (My husband said, "of course he was") Anyway, I felt such peace and love from him, but when he bent down to touch me I screamed, and he was gone.It was a time in my life when I really needed to feel that Jesus was real.I will never forget that night as I am sure you will not forget either. I feel so blessed and loved, but also sad that I doubted him to the point that He had to come Himself to me.
I had a similar experience, three years ago - except it was rain, not fog... and it was a large cut out of "Jesus" in a karate stance.
I was going through an intense spiritual battle, and wanted to be nowhere but at home in my bed. Instead, we had previous engagements and needed to attend a birthday party. I felt like i had no strength left, and was scared and alone (in a new country)...
I had just prayed and asked Jesus to "fight for me" - when we pulled up and i saw a bigger than life version of Jesus in a karate stance. (white robe & all!)
I gasped and thanked the Lord. Then i asked my husband if he saw “The Fighting Jesus” to our right. (It was a Karate School with this wooden cut out, on the front lawn.) He just laughed & said why?
He's not a believer, but i explained that i had just prayed for Jesus to fight my battles for me, when i saw this physical [wooden] "sign" that He gave me.
Jesus didn't need to, but blessed me physically with a visual that gave me assurance, strength and peace of mind. My husband thought that was "cool".
To this day, my husband references "The Fighting Jesus" when giving me directions to an unfamiliar location downtown. :)
That is a beautiful story. It's a good illustration because sometimes we start to feel like God treats us like people here on earth. I know it's sometimes hard for me to believe He cares for me so much. I know I heard His voice one time when I thought I was dying. My blood pressure was 50 over 30 and I could not see. I was so afraid I was dying. I was having a reaction to a medication given to me. As the doctors worked on me, I heard a voice say to me amidst my intense fear, 'Why are you afraid, I am right here.' My anxiety levels disappeared, and I was at peace. The IV the doctors started with fluids brought me back around. My vision returned as my blood pressure came up to normal numbers, but I NEVER forgot that reassuring voice. I no longer have a fear of death because I KNOW He will be there.
I needed to hear this today. My heart has been shattered into tiny little pieces over the last two days. I can't see what God is doing, but I know that he is faithful and he will give me peace to make it through another day. I'm glad that Jesus is aware of what is going to happen in the future and he will take my shattered dreams and redeem them. I just wish it was a lot sooner than what I am thinking. There's just so much fog today.
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