Responding to God

1 Samuel 3:2-5

“2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house 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.”

How is it that Samuel mistook God’s voice for the voice of Eli?  God speaks in many ways.  In the Bible we read of visions, dreams, burning bushes, signs, thoughts and angels that God uses to communicate with people.

We always think that if God spoke to us we would immediately recognize God’s voice.  But God speaks to us all the time and most of the time we pay no attention or we attribute the message to something else.

We laugh at Samuel, but in many respects, we are Samuel. 

How should we respond when we think God is speaking to us?  Listen to the advice of Eli:

“So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1Samuel 3:9a)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)