Out of the Fog

I accomplished a challenge that I have wanted to conquer for sometime now.  I weaned myself off of caffeinated coffee.  As time progressed, I found that I was drinking more and more each morning when I took my wife out to breakfast now that I am retired.  I was enjoying it less in the afternoon when the coffee high wore off, because my wife doesn’t drink coffee and it is not readily available at home.

I thought it best to stop, because my blood pressure does better without caffeine in my system.  I want to stick around for my wife as long as I can.  I don’t want any problems relating to high blood pressure later with hindsight saying, “If I had only…”

In the process of giving up coffee, I stopped cold turkey.  I know I said weaned, but it was “That’s it; no more.”  As you know, if you have ever tried to stop drinking coffee, the headaches started coming and I became tired and lethargic. 

My mind lost concentration and it seemed as if I were in a fog when trying to converse with others.  There were other withdrawal symptoms, but I was unaware of these symptoms when I went off coffee.  I thought I was having some sort of mental breakdown or psychological problems until I went to the internet and looked up “What are the withdrawal symptoms of quitting caffeine.” 

I was shocked at what withdrawing from caffeine did to the human body.  I certainly felt better after reading all of the articles pertaining to the subject and was amazed to find out that one cup of coffee in the morning can cause a person to become addicted to caffeine. 

Withdrawal affects individuals in different ways and takes longer, in some, for the brain to re-calibrate itself to no caffeine being in the body.  But I was determined to conquer my challenge.

After about a week and a half or two, my mind started to clear; my body felt alive, even more so than when I was drinking coffee.  I just felt better all over more than anywhere else.  It was like coming out of the fog after driving in it for a long time.  My mind was sharp and vision clear.  

I believe that most people that drive vehicles have driven in the fog at some time in their life.  Occasionally, while listening to the evening news, I hear of a multicar pileup that occurred, because of dense fog and the lack of visibility.

Ships reduce their speed at sea and use foghorns to announce their presence in heavy fog conditions, whereas, airports sometimes divert airplanes to other airports if fog is too thick on the runways.

I remember, at night, riding with one of my friends on a levee road near my home when the fog became so dense that the headlights of his truck reflected so badly off the fog that the dividing line between lanes sometimes disappeared completely, especially at this one intersection where the line was missing altogether.

We didn’t know if the road went straight or curved on the other side of the crossroads.  For those long, couple of seconds, panic hit us both, because we certainly didn’t want to drive off into the water that was on one side of the road or hit another car head-on.  Thank God the line reappeared and we continued on our way at a much slower rate of speed than before.

I was relieved, as was he, when we finally drove out of the fog and visibility returned.  It is a terrible thing to be caught in something that you have little control over. 

Had I done my homework prior to our trip by turning on the radio to local weather conditions in this area, I may have opted out of going with my friend, because of the potential dangers that driving in fog present.

Sight is a wonderful thing, but when visibility is hampered or challenged in any way, when seeing becomes blinded by this or that, a person that continues headlong into obscurity of any kind is asking for trouble.  They need to slow down forward motion of whatever they are doing or stop until clear visibility returns—out of the fog, as it were.

Satan tries to blind people to things that can hurt and even maim them both physically and spiritually.  His attempts to keep people in the fog-of-sin take its toll when shipwreck or collision with reality occurs.  In some cases it is too late to turn back the clock and do things differently.  We must then live with the cost of our actions.

Sin has its consequences, which include the heartache of, “If I had only…” hindsight; after-the-fact regrets.  But we can learn by our mistakes and stay out of the fog with the help of God Almighty.  The Holy Bible helps us to stay clear of foggy areas that can bring chaos and misery.

(Psalm 119:105), “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

The weather report in God’s Word not only provides safe passage and clear direction for our journey through life; it provides light to our path, which reveals the tactics of Satan and how he manipulates the environment around us in an attempt to kill us.

(1 Peter 5:8), “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

When we live in the light of God’s Word, the darkened shroud of unbelief that tries to blind us is kept at bay in its place with the devil.  Doubt, fear, and emotional and spiritual battles fade just as fog becomes less and less when coming out of it.

Worry need not be in our vocabulary, because we will see clearly the road up ahead and the narrow gate that leads to abundant living through Christ Jesus the Lord.  The sinking sand or troubled water at the side of us, though disconcerting at times, need never claim our soul, because straight is the way that leads to heaven.

(Matthew 7:13-14),  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”  vs.14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd