Now the boy SamueI was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. (Samuel 3:1 ESV)
I invite you to read Samuel 3:1-18. It is clear in this passage that people had become so distracted in their lives that they had lost the sense of God ‘s real presence and intentional direction.
You can see it portrayed in young Samuel himself. He heard the voice of God but didn’t know that it was God. That’s why the boy kept going to Eli. You’d think that, as a priest, Eli would’ve known who was calling the boy. Yet strangely, even Eli was slow to contemplate God’s calling, until—with an element of fear and guilt—he woke up and realized that it was the Lord who had called Samuel three times.
I believe there are moments when we, too, like those in Eli’s day some 3,000 years ago, have become so absorbed in ourselves and the world around us that we have stopped listening for God’s calling. The truth is that God still calls us and speaks to us today.
Discipleship includes the practice of encouraging each other to keep our hearts set on the wonder of God’s real presence in our lives. As a God who dwells among us, He speaks to us in many ways. Are we listening for His calling? Are we teaching others how to listen?