A good listener

Erik Weihenmayer is totally blind, having lost his vision at age thirteen due to degenerative eye disease. Yet Erik’s blindness hasn’t stopped him from achieving his life goals; including climbing Mount Everest! Ninety percent of climbers never make it to the top of Mount Everest, and 165 have died trying since 1953 - with 120 of their corpses remaining on the merciless mountain that stands 29,035 feet above sea level. Yet on May 25, 2001 this courageous young blind man reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain.

How did he accomplish such a feat? Erik is a good listener. He listened to a little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him so he would know what direction to take. He listened to his fellow climbers who would shout back to him such things as, “Death fall two feet to your right!” He also listened to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross.

What if we were that intent on listening to God? Imagine what might happen if each day we turned our entire attention to God and what He says through His Word and through His Spirit! No one can envision the mountains that we as individuals or as a corporate body might conquer. May we be good listeners to our great God!

Bill Tanzey