Encouragement

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"HERE I AM" - 1 SAMUEL 3:4-8

“Then the Lord called to Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.”

Last week we read about how little Samuel was asleep near the ark of God when he heard the voice of God calling to him. In the thick darkness of the night, through the layers of consciousness, deep in his spirit, Samuel heard someone call his name. This little boy had a heart to serve, even in the middle of the night. He was probably half a sleep, but he jumped up and ran to Eli - the only other person he knew was in the temple - and said "Here I am; you called me". But his master said he hadn't called, and told him to go back and lie down. Little Samuel obeyed the instructions of the priest. He lay down on his bed and probably closed his eyes to drift into sleep again, when he heard the same voice call his name. Automatically, he jumps up and runs to Eli again saying "Here I am; you called me...". But Eli tells him once more to go and sleep. This happened a third time before the penny finally dropped, and Eli understood that someone was in fact calling Samuel, and that if it wasn't him (Eli) then it was God!

Friends, in a season when our soon-coming King has asked us to watch and pray, and pray and prophesy, there are always forces which try to shut down the prophetic voice in the body of Christ, and the spirit of prayer. From the very inception of the church, Jesus has been asking us to stay alert, and awake, and pray. As he prayed agonised prayers before his crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane, he told his disciples to stay in prayer, but each time he came back to them, he found them asleep! This has surely been the biggest enemy of the Body of Christ - the hypnotic sleep of complacency and the spirit of slumber. It seems more natural to fall asleep than to stay awake; to get distracted with some temporal matter, than to be watchful and pray; this is a reflection of the times. Like little children who go to sleep at night always believing they will wake up to a better day, much of the Body of Christ sleeps in the belief that all the darkness will just 'go away'!

For many of us looking for breakthrough in our own different life situations, or concerned about our communities, cities and nations, God wants us to receive His call today! He is asking us to rise up and seek His presence; to pray with fervor and urgency, and to seek Him while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6). We know that Samuel became a mighty man of God who walked in the power of God's Holy Spirit; but at the time, he was just a little boy who had not yet encountered the Lord as his Savior. He was the disciple of Eli, who was the custodian of the temple. Eli was also the guardian of the lamp of God, which was barely a flickering flame in the dark days in which they lived. If he had grown to be the kind of witness Eli had become, he would never have seen the mighty power of God flow through his life to shake his nation. But Eli told him something good that night. He told him to open his heart to the voice of God. This changed the course of Samuel's life.

It is interesting to note that although Samuel was told twice to just get back to bed and go to sleep, he still jumped up and ran to Eli in response to the voice calling his name. He had not still experienced the reality of God for himself, but there was a part of him - deep down in his heart - hungry to hear the voice of God and walk in the fullness of his destiny. Little as he was, he had a heart for God and it could not be quelled. Unbeknown to him, his spirit was yearning to be woken up by the loving voice of the Everlasting Father. There was a spirit of prayer rising up which could not be cut off. There was a prophetic voice emerging in the church which would not be silenced!

Many of us have been Samuels - rising to meet the call of the Lord, and setting out in the divine commission we were given, only to be silenced by tradition, establishment, or the voice of the enemy telling us to go back and sleep! Sometimes we are too intimidated by the voices around us, which are louder and more forceful, and outnumber us. We may eventually allow ourselves to be shouted down, and quietly go back into hibernation until the next time God calls! I challenge you today to dare to keep praying. Dare to keep prophesying. Dare to keep dreaming the dream that God has given you. Dare to keep believing that if God has called you to do something, He will give you the boldness and the anointing, and will empower you to be effective for the glory of His name! Dare to be a Samuel in this generation! The enemy cannot silence the voice of God. The enemy cannot silence the voice of the prophets. The darkness shall not put out the light of God!

Little Samuel had been dedicated to the Lord, and consecrated for service in the temple. His mother had promised to give him to the Lord, even before he was born. There was a calling on his life before he began to take shape in his mother’s womb. Although he had not encountered God for himself, he was actually living close to the presence of God, sleeping by the ark of the covenant, and in the temple day and night. He was in the right place to hear from God. He was positioned to see the plan of God fulfilled in his life. Many people are crying out for a Word from God and to be guided in some decision they have to take, but they have not positioned themselves to hear from Him. Worldly ‘noise’ has filled their lives and shut out the voice of God which speaks gently into their hearts. It is time to stop and seek the presence of God. It is time to be like Samuel and lie down near the ark of God. James 4:8 says “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” He is calling you to come and fellowship with Him. He is calling you to higher ground.

There are many Samuels who have been told to go back and sleep, when the voice of the Spirit is calling within them. There is a voice of prophecy rising up on the inside of you; there is a prayer bubbling up to be spoken. Let it not be silenced my friend; let it not be drowned out or laughed out. It is the voice of God to be released upon the earth and God's Word cannot return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

Friend, in these last days, there is just one treasure we can know for sure will follow us into eternity; the calling and giftings of God. God has placed a calling on your life - to follow Him and serve Him all the days of your life. My prayer for you today is that you will obey His calling and assignment for you, and that you will experience His awesome power and anointing as you, like Samuel, open your heart to hear His voice with clarity, and do His will right where you are.

May the peace of God and His great joy be yours today and always, as you say to God “Here I am – you called me!”

Minoli Haththotuwa
www.wingslikeeagles.info

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