I was delaying in starting this message because to be quite honest, I had no clue what I was to write about today! So I did the only logical thing I could think to do and that is ask God to show me what He wants me to say. Not that I don't do this every time I write these, but there is usually a theme or topic He lays on my heart and then I find scriptures that align. I started by opening my Bible and cleaning out all the note sheets that have accumulated there over the last few months. While removing one section I felt God telling me to read what was on the page that opened. He directed me to 1 Samuel 3. My Bible titles this section as "Samuel's Call."
While still a young boy Samuel hears God call him. He mistakes the voice of God for that of the priest Eli. This happens several times before Eli realizes Samuel is hearing the voice of God. His instructions to Samuel are to respond to God and not himself. When you were a child, did you have a sense of knowing you would be called to something big some day? Have you heard a voice calling to you, but you thought it was simply to offer your service to man or to whomever was in your authority. Samuel thought he was simply in the temple to be a student to Eli. However, God spoke to him and what he shared was not positive to Eli, his authority. As Eli asks Samuel to share what God has spoken, can you imagine Samuel's thoughts? We are even told he was afraid to tell Eli of his vision. It is not an easy thing to provide correction to those in authority. However, there are times when God speaks and we must obey. How the authority receives the correction is between them and God. Eli was approachable and even sought out the information from Samuel. I'm sure this made it easier for Samuel to provide the correction. Eli's response to the the rebuke is "He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good." I would imagine Samuel felt a bit of relief from this response!
At this point I find it important to go back to 1 Samuel 1 where we find the interaction between Hannah, Samuel's mother, and Eli the priest. In her hurt and in her crying out to God, she is met with scolding from the priest. He assumes she is drunk because it appears she is speaking to herself. Have we ever judged someone in a negative way or assumed there was sin in their lives, when in reality what we witnessed was their attempt in drawing closer to God? The way we interact with God varies with each person. Once Hannah explains she is hurt and simply petitioning God (she was pleading for a son), Eli sends her away in peace and speaks life over her by requesting God grant her plea. The next morning Hannah and her husband wake early to bow and worship God. It is after they return home when Hannah conceives Samuel..
When she had been in the temple she had vowed to return the gift of a child back to the Lord. As soon as Samuel was weaned, she returned him to the temple to live. She returns and reminds Eli of their previous meeting. She is not hesitant or reluctant in leaving Samuel. Her prayer is recorded in 1 Samuel 2. God truly opened her womb because she later gives birth to three more sons and two daughters. We are told in this same chapter of the sin of Eli's sons. Did Hannah know this was happening? Did she have any reservation of leaving her son not just with Eli, but in the company of his disobedient sons? I can't help but wonder if she had chosen to "keep" Samuel, if she would have received the further blessings of offspring.
I have mentioned the beginning of the story to emphasize the importance of being a Godly mother. Hannah's faith led to her sacrificing her son into God's kingdom. Would he have heard God's voice had he not been offered as a "sacrifice" by his mother? I believe it's because of Hannah's faithfulness to God that Samuel was positioned to be used by God and to audibly hear His voice at such a young age. We all want great things for our children. However, our hearts cry for them should be only that they would be used by God, in whatever way that looks.
I am not posting the text for today's topic because it covers several chapters. Please take the time to read 1 Samuel 1-3 on your own. I would love to hear your feedback on these scriptures and how they speak to your life .
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