"...but whoever listens to me will live..."

Continuing to read Proverbs 1:29-33
"...BUT whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

God has nothing but the best in mind for us. He does not want us to have the short circuited life that we keep on choosing for ourselves. He has opened the door to the whole universe, to the entire created order, to wonder, and to abundance of everything. If we listen to him we can have it with peace, and freedom from fear and anxiety. Of course something as big as a universe is filled with risk and high stakes options. For the one who listens to God the Universe is an Everest to be climbed, exhilarating despite the frightening heights, unpredictable weather, and short supply of oxygen at the higher elevations. We are drawn upward in God to enter into everything his creation has to offer. I haven't ventured too far yet but I hear God calling and I know that he is out there waiting for me on every towering peak, in every shadowy valley, in all of life's desert places, in every conversation where I encounter his image and reflection. What he wants for me is beyond anything I am even capable of dreaming of. Too bad I can so rarely let go of the little world of my own dreams and jump into the ocean of his will for me.

The "but" at the beginning of these last couple of phrases is a big hurdle to get over. If it were only as simple as that... Oh, I would live a much bigger life if only I would "listen" to my God. I can hear all too well but it is so hard to "listen." Hearing is physical and I'm in reasonably good physical shape but "listening" is spiritual and I'm a little out of shape in that department. I am so terribly inclined to listen to me that I can only listen to God through a series of filters that I have constructed for what I think are my own best purposes. The only way I will throw out those filters and let God speak unhindered is if I really trust Him. Imagine someone not trusting God. I mean, if you can't trust God who can you trust? But isn't this the real obstacle to my moving from being an arm chair spiritual adventurer to actually getting up and leaving this safe little world by the front door? If I want to apply what I am learning from this little paragraph that I have found at the beginning of a book of wisdom I will have to confront my lack of trust in God. I am not "listening" because in the end I believe that I always know better than God what is best for me. This is a nice little insight but insight is not transforming. Doing is transforming. My next opportunity comes when God says "get out of the boat" and I jump in the water.