Clarity of vision is such an important thing. This is especially true when the season is fraught with storms and visibility is limited. In such times we do all we can to penetrate the obscurity. But are our efforts working? Vance Havner has written, “We’ve never had more lights shining, bells ringing, and horns blowing than we have today … Yet, we’ve never had so much fog.” Trying to advance through the fog (fogs can be made of all sorts of things – anger, apathy, jealousy, selfishness, materialism, greed, prejudice) we are tempted by anything that poses as an agent of clarity. Occasionally, and sometimes too late, we realize that we have opted to follow an imposter. God understands our need for vision better than anyone. God speaks much in the Bible about how His people can find the vision they need to make it safely through the fog. Of interest to me is the glimpse we are given of a time when the fog is completely gone. What is happening when there is no fog and everything is seen and understood clearly? Listen to Rev. 4:8, “…Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” What does it say about us when the thing that God says always works to clear vision – the worship of God – is not seen as particularly useful? In our public discourse, in the media, and even among many Christians, worship of God is not often held up as an effective strategy for successfully navigating the fog. It seems many Christians do not believe that the worship and praise of God is the most effective way of restoring vision. So I ask, how much do you trust in the worship of God as a practical answer as for the fog? I have never discovered anything that comes close to worship for clarifying vision. This is how we raise the bar on our discipleship.
