The brokenness of sin makes it difficult for even Christians to see God.

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‘You have eyes — can’t you see? You have ears — can’t you hear?’
Don’t you remember anything at all?
Mark 8:18 New Living Translation

I’ve been to the Garden of the Gods many times. I know what the rock formations look like even though I struggle to remember their names. On this rare, foggy day, I couldn’t see much of the Garden. Fog makes it difficult for me to see the structure of things that I might know quite well.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

When Jesus speaks these words to his disciples they saw him taking five loaves of bread, two fish and feed over 5,000 people. After feeding the crowd he walked on stormy waters, healed a Gentile woman’s daughter and then repeated the miracle of feeding 5,000 by taking seven loaves of bread and some small fish and feeding 4,000 people.

“You have eyes–can’t you see?”

That sounds familiar. Though we haven’t seen Jesus feed a crowd of people with a minuscule amount of food and we haven’t watched him heal someone on their death-bed, we know his grace. We know what he has done for us as he bled for us, rose for us and lives for us.

We daily struggle to see. Even though we know the mercy of God in Christ, our days might reflect doubt, darkness and discouragement.

Where will we find hope? Hope is found a few verses later. Jesus asks his disciple who they say that he is. Peter boldly proclaims that Jesus is the Christ (8:27-30). Don’t get me wrong, Peter would continue to struggle, and so will we.

Yet in the midst of our struggles we confess that Jesus is the Christ. Though we might not see the fullness of his grace, we trust his mercy. His Spirit leads us even through the fog of life.

One day we will see clearly, but until that day may we continue to find hope in the fog because Jesus lives.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO