This week I found myself in the midst of a fog. It was early in the morning and still dark and the road I was on took me across a low bridge. All I could see were the white lines alongside the car and a short distance of road.

After getting past it, I thought about how that happens in our spiritual life sometimes. In the process of getting through life, we will from time to time get overwhelmed in a fog that limits our sight of God and leaves us wondering who we are and what it is we are doing and why.

There is not a lot that prepares us for this situation in North America. Unfortunately, we have become an episode thinking, formulaic society. We imagine our life is like a TV show. Problems come and we think all our questions and concerns should be answered by the end of the day with a simple formula that fixes everything. We want to pillow our heads at night and run the credits with prayers as we thank God for the good things and ask that He not allow any more bad things.

Life is not a TV show, and there are some things that a simple “how to” list can’t fix. There are times when there is nothing to fix. A fog is a fog. You don’t fix it. You get through it the best you can and learn all you can from it. God always has a purpose for the fog and even leads us to it at times to teach us to trust Him as we go through it.

So how do we get through a spiritual fog?

In Psalm 42 we don’t get a formula, but we do get a plan from one of the sons of Korah. The songwriter who wrote this chapter of Scripture felt far from God. Life was not going the way he thought it should, but he did not give up. He did not walk away from God or from the community of faith he was a part of. Instead he did what we should all do when we feel estranged from God or in a strange place spiritually.

He wrote in Psalm 42:5-6, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

His plan is a good one. Again, this is not a formula. Following these simple steps will not fix anything. These are steps to take to get through the fog, not to fix the fog or keep it from ever impacting your life again. That isn’t how it works. In every believer’s life, a little fog will come.

One good step is to “hope in God.” Do not hope in better circumstances. Do not hope for someone or something to make it better. Let your heart be encouraged in the midst of the fog that you are not alone. God is with you. The fog is never stronger than Him. God is stronger than anything and anyone, and He knows the way through. Hope in His love for you and in His divine power to make the fog a blessing and benefit to you in some way.

Another good step is to avoid complaining. Use the energy to worship God in the fog. Say in your heart, “I will yet praise him.” There is certainly a place to make petition to God. There are examples of petitions and commands to make them all over the Bible. But one of the best ways to gain peace is by taking your eyes off what you think you need and focusing on the majesty and mightiness of God and simply praising Him. Giving God praise grows our courage.

And as you are hoping and praising, let your mind engage in serious contemplation of the divine Daddy that delights in you. Most of the time we allow our emotions to dominate us in the fog. Don’t do it. Get cognitive of the goodness of God. Remember who God is and remind yourself regularly that Jesus is “my Savior and my God.” Be reasonable about it. If He loved you enough to die for you, surely He will see you through the fog. And never forget that He is God. He is the Almighty and He is crazy about you.

— The Rev. Dr. Jason Pettus is pastor of Living Hope Baptist Church.