Samuel was a young man who still didn’t understand all the ways of God. He had been given to God’s service when he was a small boy and was raised in the temple in Jerusalem. He was there at the temple to serve Eli, the priest. Or so he thought. But God was about to bring judgment against Eli and His sons. He was going to end the days of their priesthood in God’s temple because Eli’s sons were anything but holy, and Eli allowed it. It was time for a change. And God was going to use Samuel. He just hadn’t told Samuel yet.
One
night God called out to Samuel and Samuel thought it was Eli’s voice, so he got
up and went to Eli. Eli told him he had not called him – go back to bed. The
third time it happened, Eli finally realized God was speaking to Samuel and
told him if it happened again to say, “Speak, Lord,
for Your servant hears”. “Now
the Lord came
and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel answered,
“Speak, for Your servant hears.” (Samuel 3:10)
When
Samuel acknowledged God’s call, God began to tell him things that would happen
in Israel. From that time, Samuel knew God’s voice. He had been listening for
the voice of Eli all those years, but now He was hearing from God and God used
him in a powerful way as a Judge over Israel.
As
God’s people, we need to learn to recognize Jesus’ voice. If we don’t, we will
shut Him out and continue serving other people and listening to their voice
instead of the Lord’s voice. We need to hear God’s voice to discern His will in
every situation that arises.
Jesus
said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)
He went on to say, “he who enters by the door is the shepherd
of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear
his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes
before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of
strangers.” If we are following another voice, we are not following Jesus. (John
10:2-5) We all need to be led. But we need to be careful
who is leading us.
The
sheep know the shepherd’s voice because they are close to Him. Most of the
people in Jesus’ day did not recognize God’s voice. If they had, they would
have known God was right there with them; that Jesus’ voice was
the voice of God. Instead, they followed the voice of the religious rulers who
led them astray. We need to listen carefully and learn the voice of God for
ourselves. We are to be one with Him and recognize that without Him, “we can do
nothing.”
When
we are walking in the will of Jesus, following His voice, we cannot take it
personally when someone praises us for doing something well or for doing a good
deed. It is not us, but the Spirit of God working in us that accomplishes
anything of value. If the Spirit of God was removed from us, we would find out
how bereft of any good we really are. It is truly all about Jesus, not us. By
the same token, we need to realize the power of evil coming against us is actually
coming against Jesus in us. When Jesus stopped Paul on the road to Damascus, He
did not ask Paul why he was persecuting His people. Jesus asked, “Why are you
persecuting ME?”
In
Matthew 25:37-40, Jesus told a parable about a King who proclaims a blessing on
the righteous for all the things they had done for Him personally. “Then the righteous will
answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You
hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in,
or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say
to you, inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
In times of turmoil, we need to be still and listen for His voice.
Instead
of making the situation about us, we need to stop and say, “Speak, for Your servant hears. Lord, I’m listening. What
is it you want me to see or hear in this situation?” When we hear Him, then is
the time to act and obey Him. Maybe God has allowed something to slow us down
for a rest that we have ignored. (I have first-hand experience there.) Maybe He
is changing our course. Maybe He is ending one season of our lives because He
has a new assignment for us. Maybe we have served Eli long enough and He is
raising us up to take his place. We will never walk in the fullness of His will
if we don’t stop and listen for His voice.
When king Uzziah
died, a godly king was taken from the throne of Judah. He was the king that
Isaiah the prophet had served under. The future must have looked dim to Isaiah.
But he says in Isaiah 6:1 - “In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high
and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”
Uzziah was no
longer on his throne, but God was unmoved from His throne and was still in
control. His power and glory had not dimmed. It was during this time that
Isaiah answered the call to “go” for God. He had already been serving, but God
was changing his course. When Isaiah answered God’s call to go for Him, the
call was not directly addressed to him by name. Isaiah had found himself in the
presence of God, and he realized his sinfulness and uselessness. Then he cried
out, “Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have
seen the King, The Lord of hosts!” His knowledge of God took on a new depth and
passion.
“Then flew one of the seraphim [heavenly
beings] to me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs
from off the altar; And with it he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has
touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is
completely atoned for and forgiven.”
When he
acknowledged his sin, God took care of it. When we see ourselves as we really
are, God can begin the process of making us into His image. He can begin the
process of cleansing and renewing us so we can hear His voice and understand His
leading.
Once Isaiah’s
sin was dealt with, he began to put his focus on the Lord instead of himself. His
ears were opened to hear the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And
who will go for Us?” And Isaiah spoke up, “Here am I; send me.” He was right
where he was supposed to be, so he heard God’s question. (Isaiah 6:5-8 AMPC) God was preparing Isaiah and changing
his course. He listened, heard and answered.
The Lord sends
out the call to come and follow Him. Can we hear the call if we are not in His presence
listening? Can we answer the call if we are not purified from sin? The call
goes out whether or not we are listening, whether or not we hear Him, whether
or not we are prepared to answer. Some will hear. Some will not. If we are not
listening, we won’t answer the call.
Jesus sent the
call to all that came to Him. Many were called, but few were chosen. Why? Because
only a few were really listening. So only a few really heard Jesus’ call. Then
only a few out of those who heard Him answered the call. Only a few were
cleansed and made ready. Only a few were willing to completely follow Jesus. What
was Jesus’ call? “Come and follow Me.” Leave everything behind. Become
servants, not superstars. Empty yourself of everything but Jesus and let Him
work through you. Don’t follow your own purposes, only what He leads you to do.
Oswald Chambers
said, “Our Lord said in effect to Paul - Your whole life is to be overmastered
by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine…Paul was devoted
to a Person, not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing
else, he lived for nothing else…This abandon to the love of Christ is the one
thing that bears fruit in the life, and it will always leave the impression of
the holiness of God, never of our personal holiness.”
A lot of people
are devoted to various causes, but few are devoted to Jesus. You may be devoted
to your church, your ministry, your family, your job, but are you devoted first
to Jesus? Until we give Jesus everything, we cannot accomplish anything of
lasting value. Without Him we are only a small speck in the annals of time.
Nothing we do is truly great except the work God does through us. When we get
‘self’ out of the way, the work God will do through us will have everlasting
value. It will change hearts for eternity.
In Revelation 3 Jesus said, If anyone hears My
voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he
with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
The call has gone out. Who is listening? Who will answer?
Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
