SEEING PAST THE FOG

by Rev. Jack Hulsey

Keep your eye on the ball, your shoulder to the wheel, your nose to the grindstone, your feet on the ground, your hand on the throttle, your back to the wind.  Do all this, and you’ll have to call 911 to get the first-responders to come out and untie you from the knot you’re in.  Or I should say the knot you’d be in if you tried to follow all the bits and pieces of free advice people dole out. 

Back in the 1940’s, there was a famous distance swimmer named Florence Chadwick who said something very important about reaching goals.  In 1950, she later became the first woman in the world to swim the English Channel in both directions. Earlier in her life she set several other lesser known records.

One of those records was a speed record for swimming from the California mainland to the island of Catalina.  Two months before Florence set the record she had a failed attempt that ended only a half mile short of her goal.

On the day of the failure, it was cold and miserable, and the fog was thick enough to cut with a knife.  The conditions took their toll on Florence as she tried to make the goal, but the main reason she quit (she later said) was that the fog kept her from seeing land.  Had she been able to see, she probably would have made it.  In fact, when she did make it two months later, she attributed her accomplishment to the fact that she could clearly see land.

We see something similar in scripture.  Matthew 14:22-33, is the account of Jesus walking on the water and what happened when Peter asked to walk out to him.

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”  And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to make it to a goal if you don’t keep your eyes on it.  Life sometimes fogs us in with all kinds of barriers — financial difficulties, personal relationships, bad habits, and worst of all, losing sight of the one whose hand is always out to help us when we are most in need, our Lord Jesus Christ.