And the LORD came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:10 NLT
God calls us in many ways. It is not often a vocal communication but more like an unction. The unction is the Holy Spirit who dwells within us guiding, directing us, and preparing us for our journey to walk with God. “The Holy Spirit helps us realize God’s purposefulness to orchestrate our lives and prepare us for heaven.” Bible Study Fellowship, Study of the Book of John, Doctrine of Sanctification, pp 243)
We communicate with, or should I say, God communicates with us in diverse ways. Just as we communicate with others in diverse ways, no one way is correct. Samuel originally mistook God’s call, he did not recognize His voice. Do you hear a voice but do not recognize it is the Lord? Does He have to call more than once to get your attention like Samuel? When you recognize it is God, how often do you respond in the same way as Samuel, saying, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
And when you do respond how often do you act on what is being conveyed? Do you listen and choose not to act? Is there quandary prior to acting? Or do you respond, “Yes Lord, and immediately follow His instruction?
Our walk carries a great degree of responsibility. We are all God’s disciples and we each have a path to follow and purpose to do God’s work on earth. Do you point others to God?
“God equips us all with gifts and graces, interests and talents to be used to bless one another.”(workingpreacher.org. God Calls Samuel. Oct 17, 2021)
How often do we overlook the glory of God in the things we see? His glory is evident if we shift our visual perception. Are your spiritual eyes targeting God’s glory?
We live fast paced lives and are rushing around throughout the day, trying to meet deadlines, packing our days. Our focus is on what lies before us, myopic and laser tight. The problem is, we are focusing on the world through our physical eyes. This daily chaos is detrimental to the development of our spiritual sight.
As long as Satan can deter our spiritual growth the greater his opportunity to control your life. If he can control you, unbelief will continue to separate you from Christ. Your faith will falter and you will experience a fissure in your faith which he uses to further separate you from God.
“God’s glory is the revelation or manifestation of His attributes or excellences.” (Veresbyversecommentary.com. John 11:40) This scripture in part is about delay. Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus that his friend, their brother, died and they wanted Jesus to come and save him. They lived in a time when it was a Jewish believe that it took three days for a body to begin decomposing and the soul to leave the body. So they felt that if Jesus was able to get there within that three day He could retrieve the body and bring Lazarus back to life. But Jesus, knowing the tradition chose to wait a fourth day to prove that he is Messiah by bringing Lazarus back to life after his soul left him.
Life presents situations and circumstances with a man-made deadline. We pray for answers that are parallel to the circumstances and situations. If the prayer is not answered within the timeframe expected, we consider it a delay, or that God is not listening, and is ignoring us. The truth is, God‘s timing is always accurate. His time may not be our time, but his delay may be for our spiritual growth. Once we shift our focus from a physical plane to a spiritual plane, we see God‘s glory in the entire timeframe of the incident. We should always look for the glory of God in everything that goes on in our lives from the breath that we take to the actions that are required of us, to the rest that we receive at nightfall. God‘s glory is prevalent in everything that occurs in our lives. We simply must have the faith to see and receive.
As in the case of Lazarus, Jesus wept when he saw Lazarus’ sister’s grieving. He weeps for us as well, he knows our grief. He knows our expectations, and he knows our joy. He knows what will strengthen our relationship with Him. The Lord listens to our prayers and petitions. The reality is, He knew we would make the petition long before we did. He also knows that blessing us in the form of our petition may not bide well. It may prove to be detrimental to us, the timing may not align with the lessons or timing with His next steps for us. What we can learn from this scripture is that our faith focuses on God’s glory, not the miracle, or the answered prayer, but on Him and Him alone.
Finally, know this, God will call us by name just as He called Lazarus to come out of the tomb and back into life. He will answer our prayers because He intimately knows each of us. His glory is always prevalent, even when we think it is not. “And whenever and whatever God speaks to the need you have, He will call you by name so that His glory is revealed in your situation.” (Wellspringchristianministries.org)
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 