Is it Coincidence or God Calling?

After a week of having serious writer’s block and being consumed in the many sides of Hannah, I have officially came to the other side of that and have produced a new devotional and here it is.

The topic reflects upon Samuel’s early years when He didn’t know God’s voice, I hope you enjoy.

Are you in a believer of coincidence or are you the kind of person that figures there is a reason for everything yet no connection. There are many times in life where the same words and thoughts surround us. Whether we hear the same advice from several people, turn on the radio and television just to discover something pertaining to it, or it’s that something that triggers anxiety waking you up at night.

This is exactly how Samuel lived his life as a young man; he had the same voice speak to him during the night that would wake him up to be alert. Samuel would look to Eli only to find confusion when he would come to find out that he wasn’t who was speaking.

I think there are times in life where we all become Samuels, that it doesn’t require us to be prophets of The Lord, nor does it require us to be flawless in our walks. I believe that it is very common for us to have seasons in our lives where we just don’t know God is speaking to us and in result we rely on others to minister to us or direct us in life.

God goes the extra mile when we can’t hear Him. He uses pastors, Christian peers, The Bible, music, media, and any sources that He knows will get your attention. There is so much debate about how God speaks to us and there is probably a lot of skepticism that will surround my own arguments on the subject. But from my experience, God had surrounded me with messages of all shapes and sizes in various ways.

Samuel turned to Eli in order to receive godly instruction. He looked to Eli as someone who was a messenger of truth and trusted him in that role. This is the same way that Christians turn to their pastors or church ministers, when they can’t hear God’s voice, they listen to their godly leaders looking for instruction and advice. When God calls upon us directly as God did with Samuel, there are a lot of times when we ask “God is that you” or assume that someone else is speaking to us that is not indeed Him.

Sometimes we don’t know that He is speaking to us because we simply don’t know. Other times we don’t know that it is His voice because we doubt that He could ever have anything to say to us, that we aren’t worthy enough for that. Although this to our knowledge was not Samuel’s experience, we can still see in 1 Samuel chapter 3 that he most certainly didn’t know who he was to God nor that God would come to him of all people.

What Samuel did do was trust Eli’s word that God is one to be trusted and knows best. This is the basic message that anyone of God’s messengers could deliver to those who struggle to hear his voice and instructions in life.

When I myself struggle with knowing what I should do in life, I approach and respond to the situation in various ways. I shut down, need quiet, or sometimes I make my life so busy so that I can work my way to the other side of my problems and allow it to work itself out. What I rarely do is allow God to sit and speak to me during those nights when I am woken up at 2, 3, or 4am with no thoughts of my own. When God wakes me up, I need to get my feet out of bed and take myself into a place that can be shared with just Him and I and allow Him to speak, just as Samuel did.

Samuel didn’t know the first several times it was God calling upon him, and we too do this. When we wake up in the middle of the nights unsure of why, usually it’s because God has something to say but we are unaware. It takes us waking up time and time again and sometimes a friendly suggestion and reminder of this method of communication that God uses to connect with us.

During those times in your life where you are running into the same message or situation, you should be bold and courageous to try and see how God is trying to use the situation. He never wants to see us in pain but furthermore He wants us to know how to listen to Him wholeheartedly and that unfortunately is a lesson that can only be taught through lessons learned.

If you are an early year Samuel who has heard that voice time and time again yet not know who it is or what to make of it, take the time to yourself to simply pray about it. By praying you are showing God you want understanding and He will guaranteed deliver an answer to you, even if it takes some time. I pray for you Samuels out there that you learn to hear His voice when He calls.