The LORD Speaks

Passage: 1 Samuel 3

Samuel’s call is one of those stories that often makes its way into Sunday school lessons. There’s something very compelling about the idea of a young boy being wakened in the night by the voice of God. What often gets overlooked in the Sunday school books is the message God gives the boy.

1 Samuel 3 begins with the words, “In those days the word of the LORD was rare…” God’s people have gone a long time without hearing God speak. Even God’s priest has forgotten the sound of God’s voice. God finally breaks the silence, choosing the most unlikely vessel: a child. The message God gives Samuel, however, belies the messenger’s innocence. It’s a message that Samuel cannot begin to comprehend. God says, simply, “I am about to do something in Israel that will send shivers up the spines of all who hear of it. And I am about to punish your master Eli in all the ways I promised.” Eli, who realized that God was trying to talk to Samuel, presses Samuel to tell him what God said. And Samuel, this innocent boy whom he’s taken under his wing, has to deliver the devastating message.

As God’s people we often claim that we want to know his will. We wish God would just talk to us and tell us what he wants for and from us. The story of Samuel’s call cautions us to know what we’re asking when we ask God to speak. God doesn’t always tell his people what they want to hear.