Position Yourself To Hear
1 Samuel 3:1-4 (NLT))
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, 'Samuel!'
'Yes?' Samuel replied. 'What is it?'
So, if you haven't already noticed my surname is a bit unusual! There's always a moment of dread when I'm on the phone to an insurance or utility company. The average cold caller or customer service centre caller doesn’t listen and before you know it my surname is Hellenbroth, Hellenbrath, Halibroth, Healthy-broth or even Helicopter!! At the start of Gas Street church someone even thought Anna & I were called 'Luke and Helen Bronth.
I don't know about you but listening to God can be a bit like this where it feels like we just don't quite get it.
We all find it hard to ‘hear from God’. There are so many things in life fighting for our attention, affection, and ambition. There is so much noise I hear above God's voice: status, financial standing, material possession and physical appearance.
This passage says that the word of the Lord was rare in Samuel’s day, undoubtedly because the people of God were going their own way. But Samuel was different. In the previous chapter we read that he had spent time ministering to the Lord as a boy and then growing in the presence of the Lord. But here we see the key. Samuel positioned himself to hear. It seems that he was lying down somewhere so near to the holy place that he probably went to bed next to the lamp. You see, positioning is not just a gesture but an intentional posture. We choose to be in a place where we can hear God, we choose to turn our hearts to him.
I love this quotation on prayer from the Dutch Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, surely expressing the best way to listen to God, ‘Prayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something.’*
Reflection — So a question for you today: is the posture of your heart one of openness to God? Are you positioning yourself to listen?
*Henri Nouwen