Listen While You Pslog

I went on a retreat last weekend, and I shared a cabin with three other men. Sharing a cabin with other guys doesn't have near the novelty that it did during adolescence.

Realizing this, the hosts for the retreat graciously placed ear plugs on each of our beds. I was glad to have the ear plugs because the guys in the beds on either side of me raised quite a ruccus. It was surround sound snoring.

About 4:00 a.m., I awoke with a gentle nudge from Mother Nature. Wait a minute! I must be getting old. In the last two paragraphs, I've admitted using ear plugs and not being able to sleep through the night without having to...you know.

Anyway, the surroundings of the cabin were unfamiliar. My internal sleep navigation system wasn't calibrated to the location of the furniture, the direction of the bathroom and the location of the light switch.

And it was dark. I tried to move carefully so as not to awaken any of the nocturnal snoring trio. As I moved slowly toward the restroom, I realized that my balance was shakier than usual. Then it hit me. I still had the ear plugs in. Once I pulled out the ear plugs, I was able to navigate the darkness with greater balance and agility.

This was a spiritual revelation. When I try to navigate through dark and unfamiliar settings, it's hard to maintain my balance when my ears are plugged. The corollary is this. Open ears help me maintain my balance as I move through dark and unfamiliar surroundings.

Sometimes we go through stuff we've never been through before. A personal problem. A phyiscal illness. A moral dilemma. A professional challenge. More often than not, there's an element of darkness and uncertainty to these times.

In Psalm 81:5-6, the psalmist recalls a message from God for the Israelites as they made their way out of Egypt into the unfamiliar frontier of the wilderness.

I will relieve your shoulder of its burden;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you.

This message continues in Psalm 81:8, "Listen to me, people...if you would only listen." How many of us who are parents have ever spoken these words? That will be another entry in The Pslog.

Then, in what must have been a moment of justified cynicism, God says in Psalm 81:11-13,

But no, my people wouldn't listen.
Israel did not want me around.
So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way,
living according to their own desires.
But oh, that my people would listen to me!

I can just hear the tone in God's voice - "But nooooooo..."

God gives me the freedom to feel my way blindly through dark and unfamiliar terrains, but it's a lot easier to maintain my balance, and I move with much more agility, if I listen to God.