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The fog would roll in like a magician, eventually making
things invisible. From my grandparents oceanfront cottage, I marveled as the
fogbank washed the colors out of other cottages further down the beach, turning
them gray until they finally disappeared.
The fog enveloped our cottage too, but it never
seemed as thick and dramatic as it did down the beach. As a boy, I wanted to be
in the thick fog, not the flimsy, wispy fog around our place. I always wanted
to walk down to at least the O’Brien’s cottage; it always seemed to vanish. I
thought about how cool it would be to go there and not be able to see my hands
at the end of my extended arms.
So, I’d wander with my bemused grandaunt down the
beach, but could never quite get into The Fog, even in front of the O’Brien’s
place. The truly dense, thick, exciting fog always seemed to be somewhere else,
just out of reach.
Nowadays, I read Chapter 11 in the Book of Hebrews,
the Faith Hall of Fame, and I can hear that same little boy, wondering and
longing. Wouldn’t it be cool to move to some strange land at God’s direction like
Abraham, not knowing what is going to happen. Or spearhead a huge, building
project like Noah. Or be part of some unbelievable miracle, like the Israelites
passing through the Red Sea or making the walls of Jericho crumble.
In the verse immediately following his Hall of Fame
list, Paul writes, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). The
inductees to the Hall of Faith are not literally enveloping us like a fog bank.
Their stories are held up as examples, to bear witness, of what awesome and
incredible things are possible through faith in God.
Things so incredibly awesome, they seem out of
reach.
However, we don’t have to go very far to demonstrate
our faith. God hasn’t called us all to be missionaries to a foreign land, or to
inspire great crowds of people, or to be a miracle worker. But He has made us
parents and spouses and children and acquaintances and employees and friends
and business owners.
And thanks to those relationships and connections, we
don’t have to go wandering off to be in the thick of abundant opportunities.
There are plenty of chances to display the calm confidence that faith generates,
right where we are.
