One of our most meaningful experiences
Follow the Light
by David & Claudia Arp
May 18th, 2017
What should have been a lovely drive through the Austrian Alps was not. Instead we could see nothing—just miles and miles of fog. We had looked forward to driving back to Zurich, Switzerland, to catch our ten-hour flight home, but we had not anticipated this fog.
Then, near Innsbruck, the dreary sky hiding the Alps gradually became brighter and brighter, and in one magic moment the fog at the very top of the Alps broke. We could finally see the tip of the Alps. The next moment they disappeared—as if they were playing hide and seek with us. Fog. Alps. Fog. Alps.
How breathtaking it was when the fog lifted and we could see the majesty of the Alps! How disappointing when the thick fog reappeared! But isn’t this how life is sometimes? Or even, on occasions, our marriage? At times we see so clearly the beauty all around us—and at other times we only see the fog. Yet, like the Alps in the fog, the beauty is always there whether we can see it or not!
As we continued to drive toward Innsbruck, we talked about times we have felt close to God and other times when we felt only distance. And then God seemed to speak to our hearts: Like the Alps, I am there even when you don’t see Me! Trust Me in the foggy times as well as the sunny times in your life and in your marriage.
Oh, if we could only remember this lesson—especially when we’re in a fog of discouragement. God is there in the foggy times just as He is there when all is sunny in our lives. We need to trust Him both times.
And then as we approached the outskirts of Innsbruck, the sun suddenly broke through. Suddenly, we were surrounded by God’s majesty—360 degrees of magnificent stately Alps! We promised each other we would remember this day and in those times when fog reappears, we will remind each other that in the midst of the darkness and dullness, God is still there—even when we don’t feel His presence! His love and protection—more majestic than the Alps—surrounds us!
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds his people both now and forever.
PSALM 125:2
