When are we going to listen to God?

Matthew 16:15-16
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus went on to say that Peter was blessed because man did not reveal this to him but God did.

How much do we put our lives at stake based on things revealed by men rather than what God reveals to us? I can think of many instances where God revealed something to me but I chose the wisdom of man. Not surprisingly, failure was often the featured guest of my party. An unwelcome guest that is!

It all comes down to faith. I remember the Indiana Jones movie where he had to cross an abyss. On his own strength and intelligence he had passed through caves where others had utterly failed. He had outsmarted every trap, ducked every swinging death instrument yet just a few feet from his goal he had an unsurpassable abyss that could cost him his goal and his life.

At that point, no wisdom from man could help him. Faith enacted and he stretched his foot out into the abyss and stepped forth. This is when his foot found a glass bridge which held him and allowed him to go forward and achieve the improbable.

Take a look at the abyss that lays in front of you today. Are you searching the volumes of men's wisdom for an answer? Are you studying construction plans for bridges? Searching for wood and rope so that you can build your way over the abyss?

These are troubling questions.

I think of all the self-help seminars that I've been to. All the self help books which I've purchased over a lifetime. Think of the millions who watch shows like Oprah. We so want to look for the wisdom of man that when we wake up in the morning and the small still voice of God whispers to us and says, "step out, trust me," we are paralyzed with fear that it wont work. We resort to one more book, one more show, and one more fruitless search for man's wisdom.

When are we going to listen to God?