5.8.11 "Recognizing the Voice of God"

"Recognizing the Voice of God"

1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
John 5:24-47
Psalm 106:1-12
Proverbs 14:30-31

How does God speak to you? There have been times in my life where I've felt like I've sensed his voice loud and clear. There have been other times when I'm not sure. What is necessary in helping us find his voice?

I love the book of I Samuel. God has used many of these passages to transform my life. We read yesterday about Hannah and how she gave Samuel to the service of the Lord. Today in chapter 3 we read a story I remember hearing when I was just a kid. It's the story of God calling to Samuel.

"Meanwhile little Samuel was helping the Lord by assisting Eli. Messages from the Lord were very rare in those days, but one night after Eli had gone to bed... and Samuel was sleeping in the Temple near the Ark, the Lord called out, 'Samuel! Samuel!' 'Yes?' Samuel replied, 'What is it?' He jumped up and ran to Eli. 'Here I am. What do you want?' he asked.

"'I didn't call you,' Eli said. 'Go on back to bed.' So he did. Then the Lord called again, 'Samuel!' And again Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. 'Yes?' he asked 'What do you need?' 'No, I didn't call you, my son,' Eli said. 'Go on back to bed.' (Samuel had never had a message from Jehovah before.)

"So now the Lord called the third time, and once more Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli. 'Yes?' he asked. 'What do you need?' Then Eli realized it was the Lord who had spoken to the child. So he said to Samuel, 'Go and lie down again, and if he calls again, say, "Yes, Lord, I'm listening."' So Samuel went back to bed.

"And the Lord came and called as before, 'Samuel! Samuel!' And Samuel replied, 'Yes, I'm listening.'" (I Sam. 3:1-10)

I probably didn't need to type in all 10 verses, but there's so much within the context of the story.

Look at verse 1. "Messages from the Lord were very rare in those days..." Why is that? Eli is the High Priest, and his two sons, Hophni & Phineas were living wicked lives. I Sam 2:22 says, "Eli was now very old, but he was aware of what was going on around him. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Temple."

God cannot dwell where sin abounds. When we allow sin in our lives, it clouds his voice. If we are having trouble hearing God, we need to take the time to make sure we are pure before him. Disobedience causes us to disconnect from his voice. There are many times when I've talked to those who are trying to hear God and I'll ask them, "What's the last thing you KNOW he told you to do." They'll say what it is. It's often something very small. I then ask, "did you do it?" Their response is usually, "Well, no, but..."

It's like hanging up the phone to God and wondering why we can't hear him. It doesn't make any sense at all.

Also, take note of how Samuel is sleeping near the Ark. In the Old Testament, the Ark represents God's presence. To hear his voice, we need to put ourselves in a position of hearing him. We have noisy lives. Most people wake up to alarm clocks set to radio stations, (one morning Lisa's radio got accidently set to a mexican polka station... easy to get up that day!) Many have the TV on day & night, and there's rarely a chance for peace & quiet. There's no time set aside to be near "the Ark". There's no quieting of the heart to even give our ears a chance to hear him.

Probably what I think the main point of this story is, is the fact that Samuel had to LEARN to recognize the voice of God. He heard something, and it was Eli who told him how to recognize it. We need to teach one another how to hear the voice of God. When someone says, "God told me..." Ask how he told them. Not to discredit it, but to learn from it. For me, I've never heard an "audible" voice from God. I've never heard with my physical ears. But at the same time, I've felt an intense pressure in my chest, knowing it's his voice. No, not the heart attack kind of pressure, but a confident sense that my thoughts are not my own.

For me, when I hear his voice, it USUALLY is not a big thing. It's usually small. It often stems from something like, "you should call so-and-so to see how they're doing". It's even smaller than that sometimes. What I'm learning is that as I become obedient to those little things he does tell me, I am in a place to recognize in a greater way the "big" things he's telling me.

In the NIV I Sam. 3:19 says, "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." Hearing the voice of God and responding to it became a way of life to Samuel. That's the way I want to be. I want to want what God wants. I want to say what God wants me to say. I want to do what He wants me to do.

That can only happen as I learn to recognize his voice.



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

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