Detours

I spent years in the Misty Flats.   I did not know I was in the misty flats;  I thought I was where I should be spiritually.  The Mist impaired my vision from seeing “up higher”. 

 

There were signs in the Misty Flats, but because I didn’t realize I was circling around and around in the flats, I didn’t realize those signs were meant for me.   “Those signs are for the ones that are in the Misty Flats”,  I reasoned.  “I’m on the higher place, they aren’t for me”.

 

I worked in a doctor’s office in a large medical office building. We’ve all been in similar offices all the time.   There are signs everywhere, telling us where to proceed to find our particular doctor, where xray is, where the pharmacy is.  

 

I was amazed at how many people walked right by those large, clearly written signs and arrows and came in my office to ask where xray was.   They walked right past the signs.   Over and over they walked right past the signs. 

 

I read my Bible “religiously”.  I prayed, I went to church, I was involved in many types of ministries.  

 

Yet I walked right past the signs. 

 

I walked past the “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, mind and strength”  sign.    I walked past the “Be anxious for nothing “ sign.   I slid by the “pray without ceasing “ sign and also ignored the “give thanks in ALL things” sign. 

 

I saw the signs…..of course I did.  

 

But I didn’t realize those signs were actually for me, not the others stumbling around in the Mists.   I didn’t realize those signs were showing me the way.   I knew those signs were true, but I never stopped to inquire.  “Is this the way I should be going?  Is this the way that will lead me to higher ground, out of the mists?  “   

 

I knew I was following these signs for a bit.  I went up the road they were pointing to, but I also knew that I wasn’t following the way these signs pointed completely.    I went part way.  I didn’t follow them fully to the end of the journey.

 

I started on the way they were pointing, but I followed detours.   I followed the detour of “Yes, I love God, but I cant give all my heart and strength because I have to give some of it to my family”.   I got off on the detour that pointed me to  “It’s only natural to worry, you can’t be free from all worry”.   I took the sly little sign that said “  What good does it do the pray about THAT”.    I was drawn down the road marked “ I’m TRYING to be grateful , it’s just really hard”.

 

None of these detours took me to where I wanted to go.   They all circled back to the Misty Flats. They all ended in  that place whose state motto is “ You can only trust God so far”.  

 

Mattthew 7 warns us about not fully following the signs. 

²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

 

Hear put them into practice.   

 

An unwanted event in my life took me to the edge of a cliff.   I had two choices: I could fall off the cliff or I could turn around and try to figure out where I took the wrong turn.   So about 5 years ago I found my way back to the main road.  I’ve been slowing working my way out of the misty flats.   I'm trying to read all the signs and make sure I’m FULLY following them .  I’m still traveling.  But at least I know there is a “Higher Place” to live.  I'm heading there.

Traveling out of the mist......

Awhile ago I ran across the poem "Out of the Misty Flats". It really spoke
to me.

To every many there openeth
A way, and ways, and a way.
And the high soul climbs the high way,
And the low soul gropes the low,
And in between on the misty flats
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth
A high way and a low -
And every man decideth the way his soul shall go.

- John Oxenham

I had reached the age of ....um, cough..... I had reached "A certain age",
and I was disheartened to realize that I WAS in the Misty Flats. STILL in
the Misty Flats. Not on the low way for sure, but certainly not in the high
way.

How did this happen?  Shouldn't I have been farther along? I certainly
didn't set out for it happen. It wasn't intentional. I started my adult life
as someone who newly committed her life to walking and following Christ, a
mother, a nurse, and a wife of a man studying for ministry. High hopes.
Great Expectations....... and then. Then "life" happened. Business happened.
Achieving happened. Disappointments happened. Slowly but slowly I found a
seemingly comfortable place among the throngs in the Misty Flats.

It's misty in the Misty Flats. The mists, which can seem so beautiful if
looked at from afar, subtly blur your vision of what is ahead. Sure, I saw
where I hoped I was going, but, because I was in the mist, I didn't even see
the High Way. I just saw more mist.

Being in the Misty Flats can prevent you from seeing and knowing that there
IS a higher "way".

As we drive through Loveland, Colorado, heading for the Big Thompson Canyon
which will take us into Estes Park, we sometimes see a mist on the lowlands
before the canyon. We can't see the mountains ahead. We sometimes can't even
see the entrance to the canyon. We KNOW it's there, but we just cant see it.


And that's how it was for me. High hopes at the beginning. Great promises
and plans to live my life for the Lord, but I think I got stuck in the Misty
Flats. The mist of business and doing and fighting off one disappointment
after another ( the same kind of disappointments we all have) , and even the
mist of "Serving God" preventing the High Way of walking intimately, moment
by moment with God.

I thought I was in the High Way, but, if truth be told, it sure didn't seem
very "high". So bear with me if you'd like to , and over time I'll share how
I'm making my way out of the mists and on to the High Way.