God's Voice - Part 2
Scripture Reading - 1 Samuel 3:4-10 KJV
4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
Today’s lesson will build upon knowing the “Voice of God”. In our previous lesson we set a foundation of Jesus, Thee Good Shepherd, being the “Voice of God” or we could say literally the “Voice of the Lord”. We concluded that if you want to know the “Voice of God” you must be familiar with the “Word of God” specifically recorded in the Holy Bible. This lesson gives an example of the Prophet Samuel learning the “Voice of God”. This example has several good lessons to learn so we (ihlcc) will dive in one lesson at a time starting with the first verse of this grouping (verse 4) and concluding with the last verse of this grouping (verse 10). According to verse 4 the Lord will call us personally because He knows you by name. Know that God wants to talk with you individually but you must be able to recognize when God is speaking directly to you. As recorded in verse 5 Samuel went to his spiritual leader Eli falsely thinking that Eli called him. When we were younger in the Lord we (ihlcc) thought that the Lord matched the voice of Eli to help Samuel learn His Voice (The Voice of God) but now we (ihlcc) understand that God does change His Voice to match ours but we must change our voice to match His. No, what happened was that we only have record of Eli and Samuel being in the Temple of the Lord so Samuel was thinking who else would be calling me besides Eli? This was not a spiritual phenomenon expected by Samuel but rather his practical reasoning that it must be Eli which means this “Voice of Lord” was audible, for it could be heard by Samuel’s physical ears. We do notice in verse 5 that Eli instructed Samuel to do something practical like, “lie back down” because at that moment Eli didn’t know how to help him. In verse 6 we notice that God is persistent and The Lord didn’t get upset with Samuel or Eli for getting things wrong the first time or even the second time. Please notice that God stayed in His Place without chasing Samuel into Eli’s room. Of course there is disagreement between Eli and Samuel but Eli falls back to safe conventional counsel to have Samuel to, “just sleep on it” (go back to bed because this might not be anything but your mind playing tricks on you) which does nothing to help Samuel’s dilemma. Now verse 7 explains the whole miscommunication by expressing the fact that Samuel did not know The Lord, and the Word of God (Jesus) was not yet revealed to him. Many would question how you could live in the Temple of God and not know God. It is shocking but we (ihlcc) we tell you this is quite common in many churches all over the world. Many people know the Temple of God (the physical church building) and many people know some people of God without personally knowing the Person of God, Jesus Christ the Savior of the World. Yes, you could even be around the Priest or the Pastor on a consistent basis and still not know God. Moreover, if you don’t know God personally (by being born-again) you will never know “His Voice” specifically trying to talk with you. This is why verse 7 mentions that the Word of the Lord wasn’t revealed unto Samuel at that time. This key verse puts everything in the proper context because we learned that Samuel duties up until that time were more physical and Eli handled the more spiritual matters. Quote: You will never become more deeper spiritually in God while spending your time fully engaged in the natural duties of man. For example Samuel lit the candles and took out the trash while Eli conducted the prayer sessions and counseling meetings. Eli studied the Word of God while Samuel was given to Temple maintenance. If Samuel was like most people (and we know he was) he didn’t want to push into the spiritual duties of the Temple because Eli was his elder and who wants to venture into something you know nothing about. One never grows closer to God by self-promotion but rather the saint of God must be invited into a deeper relationship with God by the Lord Himself. For by Grace we are saved through faith and that is not of ourselves it is the Gift of God. We see in verse 8 God’s persistence and patience prevail. Notice that the Lord did the exact same thing over again showing us that He is faithful to hold His position until the saints catch-up. It might take us a little extra time to know “God’s Voice” but God abides faithful to keep speaking to us. Amen! The difference with verse 8 was that “Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child”, therefore Eli was now in a better position to help Samuel rather than brushing him off to the side. We see that Eli gave Samuel some very easy practical instructions in verse 9 that eased Samuel’s mind by the combination of the counsel of his elder and the possibility of God being in his room (God is always there with us but we just don’t know it because we don’t think about God always being with us, even though He Is always with us). According to verse 10 The “Voice of The Lord” stayed consistent and Samuel talked back to the right person or we could say, the right being (God Himself) and then and only then was Samuel in the right position to receive from God simply because he finally discerned the “Voice of The Lord”. Praise God! A few takeaways from this example. Samuel grew into the ministry of a Prophet of God without knowing God’s Voice at first so don’t despise small beginnings. Samuel heard from God with some instructions from his spiritual elder so don’t despise working with other elders and don’t be too prideful to share what you are hearing with an elder when you are trying to discern if it is God or not. Also, notice that Eli didn’t see the full picture at first but saw it more clearly later so be patience with your elders if they don’t clearly see it at first because they could come around later. Please, make a mental note that when “God’s Voice” comes to you (and His Voice will come to you personally in due season) there is a purpose attached to it and that specific purpose is between you and God but it does need to be treated as special by you because if you treat it special and obey when asked to do something specific the “Voice of God” will continue speaking to you. Also, notice that there will come a day when the ministry you are called to will come calling to you, and you must answer, Speak Lord for thy servant hears and I am ready to obey. Praise God, The Father in the Name of Jesus for talking to Your beloved children through the person of Jesus Christ both now and forever. Amen!