We have gone on a father/daughter retreat the past six years. In a couple of weeks we plan to do it again. One of the things we do is a blindfold obstacle course. The rules are simple. The girls get blindfolded and I tell them what to do. They are led over branches, around trees, down to the pond and the edge of the deck and back. All the while I am giving the instructions: “Turn left… Turn right… Step up… Turn around… Stop!”
We have reversed it too, where they get to blindfold me. That gets the most giggles. We’ve all survived.
At the end of this, I give my spiel about listening and the importance of obedience. They probably just hear it as a manipulative parental maneuver: “You’d better pay attention or you’ll drown in the pond!” But it’s really a discipleship lesson. I tie-in the importance of listening to God’s voice, how he wants to speak, and how we can learn to hear his voice.
It’s a lesson I constantly need reminded. I think I’m always seeing everything, but I am walking through life blindfolded essentially. Compared to all there is to see, compared to all God sees, I might as well be blindfolded. I often have no idea what is coming up or what to expect when I turn left or right. There is more I can’t see (or even sense) than that which I can see. That is where trusting him comes in.
Trust pleases God. And he does lead those that seek him. I think that’s one of the lessons from the list of stories in Hebrews 11. It is one story after another of blindfolded people who God faithfully led. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please him…” It doesn’t say without understanding it is impossible to please God. It doesn’t say without a plan it is impossible to please God.
Sometimes all there is to go on is faith. That’s enough to please God. How do we come by faith? Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing [God’s voice?] and hearing by the word of Christ.”
There is a Voice. He is speaking. May we have an ear to hear.
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