Are you listening?

"In those days the word of the Lord was rare..." (1 Samuel 3:1, NIV)

We could probably change that verse to fit 2014 like this, "In these days the word of the Lord is rare"...or is it?

Maybe, just maybe God is still talking and the problem is me.  Maybe the problem is that I am just not listening.

In 1 Samuel 3 God calls Samuel 3 times by name, and every time He did Samuel ran to Eli because he thought Eli was calling for him (1 Samuel 3:4-8).  Finally after that third time Eli the priest tells Samuel that if it happens again to say, "Speak Lord for your servant is listening" (1 Sam 3:9).  Did you catch the end of that?  Your servant is listening.

Couple of things that I think we can glean from this:

• Samuel did not recognize the voice of God.  Three times God spoke to him and he did not know it was God.  Samuel had to have Eli tell him that it was God speaking to him.  So if you think God is not speaking to you, maybe He is and you just haven't recognized its His voice.
• Samuel needed to tune in and listen.  "Speak for I am listening", He had to be ready to listen, he had to be willing to listen.  So if you think God is not speaking to you, maybe He is and you are just not ready and willing to listen.
• Samuel had to be laying down for bed to hear the voice of God.  Makes sense to me.  Think about it when is the ONLY time we are still for more than a few minutes.  So if you think God is not speaking to you, maybe He is and you just haven't been still and quiet long enough for Him to get a word in.

Sometimes in life we have spells where we feel like God is not speaking.  He does, the problem is we are not listening.

So, Are you listening?