Careful Listening

This morning I went for a run on a road that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love that it is quiet, usually with light traffic for the first mile as it goes west of town, and then hardly any traffic as it reaches my turn-around 4½ miles from home. I hate that it is all downhill outbound and therefore all uphill on the way back. I'm the kind of runner whose preference is to get the hard parts of the run done early.

It is a beautiful piece of road, winding through a canyon. It follows a creek, hence its uphill/downhill nature. When the railroad was still in Dulce the tracks ran through the canyon, and at the bottom, where the creek joins the river and I turn around, there is still a water tank and railroad bridge.

I mentioned that the traffic is usually light, and this morning was no exception. Once I was past the edge of town the only vehicles I saw were dump trucks. I saw several, going downhill empty and coming back up filled with dirt.

My rule-of-thumb here for heavy trucks when they are on the same side of the road as I am is to move all the way off the shoulder. If there is a guard rail I stop and sit on it until the truck goes by. The truck drivers have enough things to pay attention to without having to worry about a possible collision with a runner. And a runner vs. dump truck incident never  works out well for the runner. The trucks this morning were all from the Tribal Roads department and their drivers are very considerate when they see me. They always move way over and give me space, slowing down if need be.

So this morning I was enjoying the quiet when I heard a rumble behind me. It got a little louder as it got closer. No problem, as I was going downhill facing traffic and it would come from behind in the far lane as it went past.

It got a little louder, and then I realized it wasn't behind me but in front of me. Quickly looking ahead I saw a truck rounding the bend, and the driver saw me. We both opted for safety. I stopped on the guard rail as the truck moved to the far lane.

The presence of the truck itself didn’t surprise me, as I had already seen several. But I had been deceived by the sound bouncing off the canyon walls. I thought that it was coming from one direction, and acted accordingly, when the exact opposite was true.

As Christians we need to be careful listeners to the voices of our culture. They are many. They are often loud. They often sound so reasonable. But very often they will lead us astray from God's truth.

The remedy to this is to turn to the word that God has revealed to us in the Bible. To read it. To pray it. To ponder it. To live by it. The author of Psalm 119 says this in verses 129-130:

"Your testimonies are wonderful;
    therefore my soul keeps them.
 The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple."

Those are just two verses in a long and beautiful song of praise to God, a psalm that, over and over, thanks and praises God for the gift of his word. May you carefully listen to that word as God uses it in your life each and every day.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.