The well known story in 1 Samuel is one of initial discovery for Samuel and the people of Israel.  First, the young boy had to learn to recognize God’s unique approach to communicating with him, and then he had to learn to be faithful in following through with God’s word.  The fact that he lived at the Tabernacle, in the presence of God, would of course appear to be a distinct advantage in hearing what God had to say.  However, hearing God’s words were just the beginning. Samuel had to treat what he heard with great care and faithfully act on it.   God’s first words to him were a real test in that regard.  God was about to deal with Eli and his family as well use Samuel to bring about change in Israel at large.  It is true that parts of what God said would occur rather quickly, but other parts of it would take over 100 years.  It was Samuel’s job to pass on God’s revelation honestly and encourage the people to seek God wholeheartedly, even if they often preferred their own self interests and old habits.  The work of a prophet was not all about popular messages and quick success.  It was about loving God’s people and urging them on to a closer relationship with God.  That’s where the good things of his promises were to be found.
 

There are times when we all need some new insight from God, a fresh perspective that will move us along on our journey to maturity in Christ.  We, like Israel, have a tendency to get stuck in our old habits and become insensitive to what God is trying to speak into our lives.  God has ways to break into our “faith fog” and communicate fresh words of wisdom and encouragement to get us moving again in the direction of his purpose for our lives.  When we sense his voice, it is important for us not to be careless in responding to what he is saying.  We need to be faithful to listen and then faithful to work on living out the implications of what we are learning about him and his will.  Like Samuel, we probably need to be prepared for large scale change to take some time.  It took Samuel years of hard work to bring positive change in Israel, but for him, each day was an opportunity to take another step and grow closer to God and learn to live in the light of his heart’s desires.  How fortunate we are to have God’s voice so readily available to us in his word, and the voice of our living Lord within us through his Spirit.