Please Do Not Fall

Upon arriving in Zurich for the first day of our Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, France trip took a train from our arrival terminal in Zurich to the terminal housing the baggage claim.  (It has the distinction of having the equivalent of a "flip book" along the tunnel with cows mowing and a young woman welcoming you to Switzerland.)  As we disembarked and approached the escalator we were confused to hear a voice over the loud speakers stating, “Please do not fall.”  We looked at each other and began to giggle.  A few moments later, as we began our ascent on the escalator, we heard the voice again.  “Please do not fall.”  It was only as we heard the voice a third time near the top of the escalator that we both realized the voice was actually saying, “Please do not board,” a reference to the train as the doors were about to close, not the escalator.  What we took as a command from Captain Obvious turned out to be a command from those concerned with passenger safety.  Somehow the acoustics in the building, our jet lag and maybe a slight German accent turned the word “board” into the word “fall.”

Once we listened carefully we were able to hear the words as they were, not as we thought they were.  It took three times to hear accurately what was intended for our safety but which we had dismissed as superfluous.

How often do we also fail to hear accurately the words of God and dismiss them as either unintelligible or as unimportant?  This is why we must continue to listen carefully and take into consideration context and the actual words spoken so that we might better understand and respond to what it is God is saying rather than what we think God is saying.  In the case of the public address announcement it turned out that it was directed at those near the train, not those near the escalator.  And the words were a specific statement (do not board), not a general statement (do not fall).  So it is with much of Scripture.  We need to be careful about making general statements too specific (glorify God in your body=do not eat red meat OR husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church=have a date night once a week) and specific statements too general (fasting=refrain from something/anything OR forsake not assembling together=meet over coffee with another believer).

Hearing clearly takes time, energy and intentionality.  For those of us privileged to own our own copies of Scripture the opportunity and the responsibility to handle accurately the Word of God increases.  While it is true that the Zurich airport did not want us to fall, it was even more true that they did not want us to board.  Both were important truths, but one was actually what the airport wanted to communicate while the other was was only what we thought they might be telling us.  May we all get better at hearing what God is actually saying rather than what we think or hope He is saying.  It will make all the difference in the world.