I am now moving on to 1 Samuel. No, don’t worry, I did not skip the book of Judges or Ruth. I apologize for not blogging on those books, life just got in the way!
Our new friend Samuel is the son of Hannah who prayed diligently for a son and committed him to the Lord. So, in the beginning of 1Samuel, we find little boy Sam ministering to the Lord in the temple under Eli.
Then one night, Samuel heard a call:
1 Samuel 3:3-5
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
Take note of who Sam responded after hearing the call from the Lord…he went running to Eli. Before we get to that, I have to love how Samuel got up and RAN. He was eager to respond, but he just responded to the wrong person.
As the chapter continues, Samuel goes back to bed and goes thru this routine 3 more times before Eli realizes that it is God calling Samuel. He instructs Sam to properly respond.
What struck me here is that, even though he was eager to answer the call, Samuel didn’t stop to really think about who was calling. He almost missed what the Lord had to tell him.
This might happen to us all the time and we don’t even know it! Yikes! The best way to not miss God’s call is to stop and take time to pray over the nudging from the Lord. Take time to digest what the Lord is saying to you and pray for peace and understanding over it. When we pray in this manner, we put ourselves in a better position to do exactly what the Lord has planned, not what we might have on our own agenda.
About two years ago, my husband and I were joking about how we just weren’t ready to have kids. We loved our life and the simplicity and quietness of it. Greg and I would happily take care of our friend’s kids, but we would also happily give them back. Then, one day, I felt this overwhelming need to be a mom. I tell you, it came out of no where! I just felt the Lord speak to my heart and tell me it was time to have a baby. You can only imagine how surprised my hubby was when I shared this with him. He was quite confused, especially sense we were literally just joking the week before about “no kids for us!
I am so very glad that I did not miss this call from God. Our 10 month old has turned our life upside down and then rightside up again. God called me to be a mommy and He has blessed me for my obedience with a wonderful, healthy, energetic little boy.
Don’t miss your call. Don’t go elsewhere when you hear His voice. Take it right back to the Lord and ask Him to make His call known to you. You WILL be blessed for your obedience!