Hearing God's Call

Good Morning! 

The Bible contains many beautiful stories that God uses to help us understand His desires for us.  One of my favorites concerns the prophet Samuel. You remember that Samuel was committed to the Lord by his mother, Hannah.  He became a servant to Eli who was a priest in Israel.  In 1^st Samuel 3, we read of how God called to Samuel …

3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

⁶ And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,^[a] and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶ But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Footnotes:

1 Samuel 3:13 Or blaspheming for themselves

I underlined a few of the words in the passage.  First, Israel was in a funk … it had no vision; it was just living from one day to the next, not doing anything that fulfilled their mission.  Take a moment to think about YOUR vision … do you have one?  I frequently ask myself if I am actively pursuing the vision God has for me … or if I am just existing from one day to the next.  God has a vision for YOUR life. Find it. Pursue it.

Second, God came to Samuel BEFORE Samuel knew Him.  We tend to forget that God knows EVERYTHING about us.  As the Psalmist says: Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. God knows YOUR tomorrow … and He wants you to give Him that tomorrow for His purpose.

Third, Eli was willing to hear what God had said to Samuel … and to accept God’s judgment upon him.  And Samuel complied with Eli’s request.  I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Samuel to say to Eli what God had said to him.  And I also cannot imagine how difficult it was for Eli to hear what God had said concerning him and his descendants.  It leads me to ask of God where I stand.  I think it’s okay to ask that question … and to be ready to hear His response.

The result of Samuel’s obedience is that he grew, God sustained him and established him as a prophet … and God revealed Himself to Samuel.  I believe God can and does do the same thing for us when we are obedient.

Well, blessings to all of you on this very frigid day.

Agape’

Mr. Jim

  

Prayer:  Father, I pray that You will speak to me as You spoke to Samuel … and that I will be willing to listen and accept Your Word as Eli did. Thank You for being my God and my Father and for giving me this good day.   In the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture for today:  1^st Samuel 3, Psalms 139:16