Is That You, God?
By Jana Kelley
“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” 1 Samuel 3:7
Do you ever sense a nudge and wonder if it came from God or yourself?
When I was in college, I wanted to serve in Christian ministry overseas, but I wondered if the feeling was a personal dream and not what God wanted. How was I supposed to know, young and inexperienced as I was?
If someone had pointed me to the story of Samuel, I would have taken comfort in seeing the humble beginnings of one of God’s great messengers.
Samuel was a prophet in the Bible who was well known for not only hearing God’s voice, but also for receiving messages from God for the people of Israel. And yet this great man of God had a bumpy start to discerning God’s voice in his life.
As a young man, Samuel served the priest Eli in the temple. One night a voice called him by name. Samuel thought it was the priest. Who else would it be? Samuel had never heard God speak before. It took four times of God calling out to Samuel and advice from the priest, for him to sit still and listen to God.
In 1 Samuel 2:26 and 3:1 we see that Samuel faithfully did the job assigned to him.
He was faithful.
When God spoke, he was quick to obey.
He was ready.
I eventually did feel that God wanted me to move overseas, but it was after several years of serving in my local church.
Perhaps discerning God’s voice is not so much about trying to figure out the way He might speak to us, but about being faithful in small things and being ready and willing to obey.
Jana Kelley, a contributor to Wholly Loved Ministries’ devotional project, is a Texan who hardly ever lives in Texas. Raised in Southeast Asia, Jana developed a love for cross-cultural living early in life. Her love for writing came soon after. She and her husband married in college and by their second anniversary, they lived in a remote African town. After 13 years in Africa and the Middle East, they moved to Southeast Asia where they and their three boys currently live. Jana is the author of two devotional books and three novels. You can learn more about her at janakelley.com.
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