1 Samuel 3:8
“And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.”
We all know the story very well. Samuel was just a young boy who was given to the LORD as a fulfilled promise by his mother. He grew up in a culture of corruption where the leader, Eli, would not deal with the sins of his sons. It was not the ideal atmosphere for Samuel to grow up in, but he did grow up and turn out right.
It was late at night and Samuel was almost asleep when he heard someone call his name. Samuel, thinking that Eli had called him, quickly got out of bed and ran to the man of God to see what he wanted. When Eli told him that he hadn’t called, he sent Samuel back to bed. This happened two other times before Eli finally realized that the LORD was calling Samuel. This time Eli told Samuel that the next time he heard the voice that he was to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” Of course, the LORD did call again and Samuel responded as he was told to do.
A simple truth is often missed in this story. Eli was the man of God, but Samuel was just a child. Samuel could hear the voice of the LORD, but Eli could not. It was a rare thing in those days for God to speak. Verse 1 says, “And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” Only a child could hear the LORD in those days. The man of God who should have been in tune with the LORD should have heard the voice, but he didn’t. There are some important principles we need to learn when we see the LORD speaking to others but we can’t hear the voice ourselves.
First, remove the corruption that is causing you not to hear the LORD’s voice. There was a reason Eli couldn’t hear the voice of the LORD and that was because he had not dealt properly with sin. You will always find it hard to hear the voice of the LORD when you have dealt improperly with sin. Sin cannot be covered up. That is exactly what Eli had done with his son’s sins. He knew what they were doing, but for the family name sake he wouldn’t deal with it because it would be embarrassing. It is always better to be embarrassed for a short period and deal with sin than it is to cover it up and have the LORD deal publicly with your sin. Your first response when it seems the LORD is not speaking to you should be to deal with any sin in your life.
Second, go to the place where the LORD is speaking if you want to hear His voice. It is interesting that Eli stayed in his room instead of going to the place where the LORD spake. Let me ask you, are you so entangled with what you are doing that you don’t want to “inconvenience” yourself to go to the place where God speaks? Friend, don’t expect to hear the LORD’s voice when going to where He speaks is too inconvenient for you. Your heart should be so in tune with God that you would go anywhere to hear his voice.
Do you find yourself wondering why the LORD seems to be speaking to everyone else and not to you? Do you wonder why it seems the LORD is answering the prayers of others but your prayers seem to go unanswered? I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but please let these two thoughts be your guide when you can’t seem to hear the LORD in your life. God wants to speak to you, but you must live in the right atmosphere so you can hear His voice.