"Speak, for your servant is listening." (3:10)
I love this story of God speaking to Samuel. I think of it often, especcially when things get overwhelming - when there is more work than hours in a day - when there are more people to help that I can get to - when there are more people who need praying for than I can even remember. In times when I just no longer clue as to what to do next that I finally give it up and turn to God and pray: Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. There are times that I have boxed myself in such a corner that I have no place to turn except to stop, be quiet, and listen.
Truth is - sometimes we get so busy doing all the things we think we need to do - we forget to listen to the Word and will of God. So when the going gets tough, here is what I do, cut my evening prayer petitions short and lying down in the quiet of the night, pray one last petition: "Speak Lord, for your servant listens.." Then I listen. I should be doing this every night, but I don't. I simply do not do what I ought to do. I do not listen as I should.
Want to know why I don't think there are more prophets? No..? Well, I'll tell you anyway. We don't hear from the prophets much these days because nobody hears the Word of God in the stillness of the night, nobody hears God whispering our name as He calls to us, because He can't be heard above all the noise. We sabotauge ourselves with all of the noise and with all the things to do. We stay busy doing "busy things" until it is time to collapse for the night. We do not make the time for ourselves to be able to sit quietly in His presence and just listen. As I said in my sermon this past Sunday, I think we're all just a little bit more afraid of God than we'd like to admit. We're all just a little bit more afraid of where God might call us, of what He might say to us, if we were listening.
Jesus calls to us and what does he say? Follow me... And where did his earthly journey take him? To the cross. That is not a message that we particularly care to hear. It is just a little fearful because we do understand that the journey will take us to places where we would rather not be, to do what we'd rather not do, to be what we'd rather not be. It is a call to give ourselves for the sake of others. That is where the voice of Jesus calls us. The journey to the cross is not easy. It is easier to fill our lives with noise and busyness so that we don't have to respond to what Jesus is calling us to.
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a time to remember his journey to the cross and a time to remember that he calls to each us. And when he calls your name, will you respond, "Speak, for your servant is listening?" Follow me...
P.S. BTW Do you know what happens when a prophet speaks? Very few respond like Eli when he said, "It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him." No, normally prophets are ignored, persecuted, shut out. Nobody wants to listen...
P.P.S. Hope this blog isn't too convoluted today. Seems I have one of those days again where busyness is threatening to consume the day and sadly I am rushed...
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