SEEING THROUGH THE HAZE
The haze is back — fires burning away in a neighbouring country, and the smoke drifting towards our little island. I was out playing pickleball recently and noticed my throat becoming scratchy partway through, noticing the unmistakable faint burning smell in the air. On some days, the blocks across the street looked like just a grey smudge. You’d know the sun was up there somewhere, but you'd never guess it from looking.
After the game, I was still thinking that this was exactly what it felt like spiritually, sometimes. Not that God has gone anywhere. He hasn't dimmed; He hasn't moved an inch. But some mornings, prayer feels like it's hitting a ceiling. Nothing wrong with the sun. Something's got in the way of it. It could be busyness that's crept in without you noticing, an old sin you never quite dealt with, or just the slow build-up of a hundred small distractions burning quietly in the background until one day you realise you can't really see clearly anymore.
Isaiah said: "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2, KJV). Notice it doesn't say God hid Himself. We did the hiding. But that's not where it ends, in James, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8, KJV). Singapore can't do a thing about fires burning in another country. We just have to live with the smoke until the wind changes. But this haze is different. We're not stuck waiting it out. We can open a window. Confess what needs confessing. Get back into the Word even when it feels dry. Sit down and be honest with a brother or sister instead of pretending everything's fine. Small things, but they clear the air.
On a hazy day you don't need to see the sun to know it's there. You've seen it plenty of times before, and you know it hasn't suddenly stopped being the sun. Same with God. When He feels far off, that's not the moment to start doubting His character. It's the moment to lean on everything you already know about Him from every clear day that came before. The haze lifts. It always has. He doesn't dim, not even for a day.
Which is really why I thought this situation came at such a perfect time. This bulletin is meant to be one more window that lets a bit of light through, even when the sky outside isn't cooperating. Every article someone sends in does a little of that work, clearing a bit of smoke for whoever reads it that week. If God has taught you something lately, in a hard season or just in your own quiet time with Him, don't sit on it. Write it down, even roughly, and send it in. You genuinely might not know whose haze it ends up helping clear.
Questions for Reflection
1. According to the article, has God's presence actually dimmed when we feel far from Him — or is something else going on?
2. What does the article suggest we actually do when we're in a spiritual "hazy" season?
3. For further study: Read Psalm 13. David starts out asking God how long He will forget him, yet ends the psalm trusting in God's salvation. What changes for David between the first verse and the last — and what does that teach us about being honest with God in our own hazy seasons?
Suggested Answers:
Something else is going on. Isaiah 59:2 (KJV) puts the blame on us, not God — "your iniquities have separated between you and your God." God hasn't moved or changed; sin is what gets in the way, the same way smoke gets between us and a sun that's still shining just as bright.
Don't just wait it out — respond to the invitation of James 4:8 (KJV), "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." Practically that means confessing what needs confessing, returning to the Word even when it feels dry, and being honest with other believers instead of hiding.
Verses 1–2 are real complaints. But by verses 5–6, he deliberately chooses to remember God's steadfast love and past deliverance, and worship follows before anything about his circumstances actually changes. It's a good reminder that honesty with God and trust in God aren't opposites — we can say exactly how hazy it feels and still choose to believe the sun is there.
