Seeing clearly

Philippians 3:14–16

“I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us stay true to what we have already attained” (Amplified Bible, Philippians 3:14‭–16).

Have you ever been driving around in the early morning or the late evening and a mist of fog spread across your windshield? Just that quickly, you lost sight of everything in view. What was once vividly clear in front of you is suddenly hidden behind a hazed sheet of glass. The road is still ahead of you, though, and for your safety and the safety of others, you turn on the wipers and set the defrost to high! Gradually, the misty haze dissipates, and from the bottom to the top, the view becomes clear once again.

When this happened to me on a recent drive into town, I was reminded of how a blast of fog on a windshield is much like our Christian walk. One minute we can see so clearly the road God has before us. We are traveling along life’s roads with clarity and confidence. Then in a moment, we are blinded by fog. Which is often seen as uncertainty, division, and trouble and we become unable to see His perfect plan.

In Matthew Henry’s concordance on Philippians 3:14, speaking of Paul, he states: “He reached forth, stretched himself forward towards his point; expressions showing great concern to become more and more like unto Christ. He who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as fast as he can; so those who have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it, in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavors.”

I love that he says, “...he stretched himself forward towards his point.”

As most of us can attest, life is not always easy or even fun all the time, especially in these difficult days when our hope is waning. Stretching ourselves forward is hard! We are human, after all, and wouldn’t we all prefer the clearer view? The one without unexpected fog. The one with beautiful scenery and clear paths. However, as the scripture says, our attitude must be one of knowing this earth is not our heavenly home, but we strive for heaven. Pressing forward through the trials and tribulations of this earth, and relying on God to make clear our paths is what gets us closer to His coming! And that can give us all hope!

When we seem to lose sight of what God has clearly told us before, we must remind ourselves that we can stretch ourselves forward and turn on the defrost in our foggy windshield of uncertainty, God will give us clarity again for whatever situation we face.

I Wish I Could Have Been There

 I heard an old song the other day, John Anderson's song "I Wish I Could Have Been There”.   In it, he sings about all the moments he missed while out on the road — his daughter's first breath, his son's first home run. Then in the last verse, he finally makes it home, and it's their anniversary. But when he gets there, it's just him and his wife — the kids are grown and gone. The chorus goes:

"It was a happy day, but kinda sad, and I wish I could have been there for that."

Listening to it got me thinking.  There are so many moments — not just in my own life, but throughout history — that I wish I could have witnessed with my own eyes.

Take Matthew 27:51. The moment Jesus took his last breath, the temple curtain tore in two — not neatly, but completely, from top to bottom. Then came the earthquakes. Rocks splitting. Tombs opening. People who had been dead, walking around again. Even the hardened Roman guards who had seen it all — they finally believed. Can you even imagine standing there in that moment? The doubt just... gone. And then, three days later, He rose. He showed up — in person — to His friends. I would have given anything to be there for that.

And honestly, I think that's something a lot of us wrestle with. We say things like, "If I could just see Him, if I could just touch Him, it would be so much easier to believe." But the good news is, He's still showing up! We just have to slow down long enough to notice. Step outside. Sit quietly in nature for a few minutes. You'll find Him there. In the rustle of the wind, in the way the light hits the water, in the unexpected stillness. Henry David Thoreau put it beautifully: "Heaven is under our feet and over our heads." I've found that to be truer than I ever expected.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone outside, took a walk, or just sat.  Either frustrated, confused, or just needing peace — and quietly asked God to help me understand something, or to give me patience I didn't have. And every single time, if I slowed down and listened, He answered. Not always loudly. But softly. Surely.

That's the thing about our fast-paced lives, though — we're so busy that we miss it. We miss Him. And we miss each other.

Military families know this pain deeply. Parents deployed overseas, missing the birth of their child. A mom or dad working a double shift, unable to make it to the ball game. It's not how God designed things to be — but it's the reality of a broken world. The good news? We still get to choose what we do with the time we do have.

So here's the gentle nudge I'm passing along, because I need it just as much as anyone: Don't be so busy doing things that don't matter that you miss the things that do.

Call someone you've been meaning to call. Write that letter. Show up when you can. Those small moments — the ones that feel ordinary — are the ones people remember forever.

And stay watchful. Stay prayerful. Because we don't want to miss that moment either — when He comes back for us.

Whether it's family, a friend, or a quiet afternoon alone in nature — don't miss what matters. The work will still be there. But this moment? It won't.  We can’t go back in time and be there for things in the past, but we can show up for it in the future!