Title: Responding to God's Call
Contents
In life's journey, "What am I going to do?" There is no more important question than to ask.
The answers will never end.
Business, work, education, etc... All these are fields in which a person can live with the vocation of his profession.
There is also a calling for ministry.
God has called us. Aren't you supposed to check why you called?
Let's look at this through the life of Samuel.
1. Hearing God's Call
We can hear God's call in many ways.
People want to know if God called Samuel in a voice audible to the human ear.
It could have been a sound that could be heard by the ears, or it could have been a sound that was so real that Samuel felt it as a human speaking.
The Bible records that the sound was direct and personal.
This would have been different from the methods that God commonly uses today.
We hear God's call in many callings.
We are called to by God in many situations, whether it is our job, our financial ability, or our family.
But sometimes we doubt ourselves or hear voices exerting pressure around us.
Also, too many sounds can prevent you from hearing God's voice.
Most of us may confuse God's calling with other things.
So many sounds are confusing us about which ones to pay our attention to.
We can even hear God's call in our dark days.
The time when God called young Samuel was "the dark age of Hebrew history" (1 Samuel 3:1).
God speaks in the dark days of peril, and in the days when we are in "the thunder of terror and fate and darkness."
2. Understanding God's Call
God has called you to various ministries.
But God has called people to be deacons, Sunday School teachers, farmers, school teachers, computer programmers, architects, nurses, and other professions.
God calls us according to our gifts, talents, and possibilities.
Too often we mistakenly think that God likes to drive square stakes into round holes.
God does not call doctors as agricultural missionaries.
You don't call musicians to be the drivers of out-of-country missions.
God's call comes to us according to our abilities.
When God calls you, you may not have the skills or training for the job.
Skills can be acquired later.
When Samuel heard the voice of the Lord, he did not have all the knowledge he needed as a prophet.
But he had the potential to get what he needed.
God helps us understand when He calls.
First, a devout family - Samuel was blessed with a God-fearing mother in a devout family.
It becomes an asset that enables us to discern God's heart and God's voice through our religious life at home from an early age.
Second, worship - Samuel grew up in the tabernacle and slept there.
As we put ourselves in a place where we can hear God's voice, we will be better able to hear and understand God's call.
Unfortunately, we enjoy listening to T.V news and do not pay attention to the Word of God.
Worship helps us interpret God's call.
Third, wise advice and counseling - Samuel had someone he could trust to help him interpret God's call.
God may have prepared a “priest of Eli” next to you, such as a friend, spouse, or pastor.
Our understanding of God's call deepens over time.
Samuel didn't understand God at first and thought that the priest Eli was calling him.
As youth, many children are convinced that God is calling them missionaries, but after ten years they understand that God's call is to Christian educators or counselors.
Our understanding of God's mission takes time to develop and mature.
3. Obedience to God's Call
Hearing and understanding God's call is of no value until you submit to it.
Obedience is not always easy.
God may call you on a mission that must be difficult.
God told Samuel to deliver terrible news to the old priest Eli.
Sometimes we step back and think that God's call is demanding too much from us and that we are not capable of meeting it.
Obedience to God's call is stressful.
God has called Christ's disciples to be tough challenges.
Their job was not easy.
But with God's help, these things were accomplished.
Samuel's words in verse 10, "Speak, and your servant will hear" is an example.
Other great prophets made excuses when they were called. But Samuel obeyed.
When we respond to God's call, God the Holy Spirit guarantees our answers (1 Samuel 3:19-21).
People may not have obeyed what God had told them through Samuel.
But people did not doubt that God was speaking through Samuel.
Everyone knew for sure that Samuel was God's spokesperson.
Samuel became a messenger of God's will.
As 1 Samuel 3:19 says, "The Lord was with him," he had the seal of God's approval.
God gave him the strength to fulfill his calling.
Those who receive God's call can find the fullness of God's grace in all things.
May we also hear God's call aright. And let's go ahead and obey that call.
You are now blessed with finding the right path in life.