1 Samuel3:1-10, v 9 “So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back to bed.
In those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel.” Samuel did not know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. So the Lord called three more times. Eli finally understood that is was the Lord calling. “So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back to bed. When the Lord called that fourth time Samuel replied “Speak, your servant is listening.”
Before we see the back and forth between God calling Samuel and Eli replying we the reader know that it is the voice of God. We also know that it was rare to have direct messages from God and that visions were uncommon. That makes us somewhat sympathetic towards Samuel but also frustrated as why couldn’t he realize on his own what was happening? Have you ever been in the “dark” about something? Had a surprise birthday party, or leaving party, or even exam result that you thought you did badly on, but did not? Others then relay the times when they thought they had given the surprise away, but you did not hear it! Samuel needed advice from the one he served to help him understand what was happening. That the person we all ultimately serve was calling and not his earthly boss. Are visions uncommon and direct messages from the Lord rare for us today? I think the answer to that question is no. We live post Jesus’s ministry and Pentecost. We are given direct access to God, through the life of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to talk to us. Last Sunday I was at a Church service and the question about CrossWalk this online Ministry had been on my mind and a reply came to me four years. The reflection was about Jesus’s baptism, the start of His ministry on earth. Four years came into my head again. I went home and looked up the length of Jesus’s ministry and estimates are around three years. So, was this message four more years? At least four years? Anyway, the answer to my question was to continue as we have not reached our three-year anniversary yet. Keep your mind open to messages from God, are you listening?
Prayer: – Almighty God thank you for sending your Son Jesus as a model for us to follow and the Holy Spirit to guide us as we seek to hear your voice.. Amen
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