Has your sleep been disrupted where you realize that someone is calling you? If you are a mother, then yes you have, many times. What if you are awakened to a voice that you can’t see, nor audibly hear, but inside you you hear a voice? A young boy in the Old Testament had this happen to him. Samuel was being trained up in the ways of the Lord by a man named Eli. Go ahead and read I Samuel 1 and 2 to see why Samuel’s mother handed over her toddler to the tutelage of Eli.
Around the age of 12, while Samuel was sleeping, God had things to share with the young lad. So, God awakened Samuel from his sleep. Three times God spoke to Samuel. Because he never received a message from God before, Samuel didn’t recognize His Voice. He thought it was Eli calling for him, see 1 Samuel 3:1-8. After the third time being awakened by Samuel, Eli realized that God was calling his mentee.
Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.'” (1 Samuel 3:9)
As you read farther into 1 Samuel 3, you will read that God did speak to Samuel. In the morning, Eli asked him what God had told him. While afraid due to the nature of God’s words, Samuel still spoke the truth to Eli. What you see in verse 18 is a key to walking with God. May you and I have this same attitude and perspective.
Both Samuel and Eli accepted the Lord’s will. “Let God do what He thinks best.”18
Because of this simple act of obedience, you read in the following verses, 19-21, how the Lord used Samuel. We see that God was with him.
In Hebrews 3:7,15, and 4:7, God calls you and I, like He called Samuel. What He is telling His people today is this, “Today, when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Jesus is searching the world for those who want to hear from Him; check out Ezekiel 34:11,16, Matthew 18:12, and Luke 9:10.
When God is nudging your spirit, don’t shut Him out. You may very well be the vessel that God wants to use in someone else’s life. God may be leading you in a whole new direction than the one that you have planned for yourself. He wants to give you His best. It is so easy to settle for the good life that you have established for yourself. Why change when what you are doing is working? Why disrupt a good thing? This kind of thinking develops a hardening of your heart. Despite whether your life is good right now or not, when God nudges you or convicts you, you are to listen and obey.
Today, choose to look up. Choose to look up and be willing to turn around to see something new. Today, face the unknown and see what God has up His sleeve for your life. While it may look scary, and uncertain in your eyes, to God it most certainly is not! God is wanting you to jump in and trust, immerse yourself and obey what God is saying to your nudged spirit and shivering heart. He will not let you down for He is faithful.
Respond like Samuel and Eli by doing what the psalmist did in Psalm 55:16-17, “I will call on God, and (believe) the Lord will rescue me.” He won’t let me drown as I’m treading unknown waters. “Morning, noon, and night I cry out in distress, and the Lord hears my voice.”
I know this first hand. I jumped in with God when He placed me in a foreign land, newly married, and looking for my first big girl job out of college. When everything is foreign, life becomes scary, and so unpredictable. I don’t weather life well in these kinds of circumstances, and God knew this. He nudged my spirit to awaken me, “Hey Carol, I am here with you.” He spoke this to me on my honeymoon when my groom and I found out that his job ended. The company Rob worked for closed its doors. Several months later, the company transferred us to Oklahoma, my foreign land where God was going to teach me to trust Him. This northern girl was heading south to a land where she never had been before.
What season do you find yourself in where you are not sure what tomorrow will bring? Rob and I are back in a time of uncertainty and newness 30+ years later. This time, though, I know who God is and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that He is with me. God hears my heart, along with my prayers and desires. God has a plan for this empty nesting season that Rob and I find ourselves in. Rob is looking towards an end to his career and what retirement looks like, and I am getting ready to publish my book (March 2021) and see what God has for me with it. We may not know what tomorrow looks like but God does, and that’s enough for Rob and I.
Want to know more about my season in my foreign land and how God taught me? My book, “God Hears My Heart,” is available for pre-order. You can find the link under the Books tab in the menu bar. I share with you how God has been with me throughout my life. He walks with me intimately on a daily basis. He desires to walk intimately with you too. I explain the gospel in a clear way where you can find the Lover of your soul. Your life will not be the same!
You will discover how God has been orchestrating your life. Everything about you is useful for God’s will and purpose that will aid in building up His Kingdom. What He needs from you is a willing heart that wants to please Him. When you awaken from your slumber and listen, like a young boy from the Old Testament, then God can step in and move mountains on your behalf. Others will be blessed by your commitment and loyalty. Marriages and families will thrive and communities will come together when we choose to listen to the words of God. Do you hear what I hear?
Carol J German 