God is Calling - Physical Illusions

In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel decide that they want a king to rule over them, and lead them, and fight their battles. They want Samuel to appoint a king for them. Samuel seeks after God's council, wondering what to do about their request. God laments about how small-minded the people are and how narrowly they see the circumstances. God had been ruling them from day 1, God had led them ever since they escaped Egypt, God fought so many battles for them and gave them countless victories. Still, the people only saw what was before their eyes. They were focused on the physical.

1. Seeing is Believing.
Our world is (and has always been) focused on what lies before their eyes. The physical is reality. All else is conjecture and illusion. The world pushes God away because they cannot see him with their eyes. The people of Israel didn't realize that they already had a King because they couldn't see him. The Israelites only knew that God would get them out of trouble if they went to war, God would bless them with rain and crops, God would provide blessings in the midst of poverty - God became a genie. Israel was determined (whether they realized it or not) to put God in a bottle.
We often do the same thing. We go to God when we need his help in the physical. We go to God when we want to - when we feel like it. It's so easy to push God out of our day to day lives because he's not physically standing in our midst 24/7. It's easy to "dethrone" God, take that throne for ourselves, and keep God in a bottle, only opening the bottle if we need to use one of our seemingly unlimited wishes.

2. Heed the Warning.
If God warns that something is wrong or dangerous, then a wise man would heed the warning, and not chase after what God has warned against. All too often, when one decides to do something wrong, Holy Spirit then tries to convince him that his actions will not end well. However, the man doesn't listen. He goes on doing what he feels is best. Again, dethroning God, ruling ourselves, and leading ourselves into destruction.
We cannot see the whole picture like God can. That fact alone is enough to make one turn complete control over to God. Why would anyone want a king that is limited in knowledge or power when he could have a King that omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? God used Samuel to warn the people of the cons to having a king, but the people insisted. They pressed on and on, begging that Samuel anoint a king for them. The warning ends with "The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect God to answer." (v. 18) God was serious about his disapproval of their request. If God says "don't expect me to come running when you start crying" I would think twice about what I was getting myself into. Again, the people decided for themselves what was best.

3. Influences can muffle the call of God.
The people of Israel really wanted a king because they saw that everyone else had a king. God tried to tell them, "You have something better!" but they wouldn't listen. They continued in their delusional thinking.
God calls us to greatness, but often that greatness comes with relying on him. We look around at the greatness we can create for ourselves and decide that we don't need God. We can sit on the thrones of our lives. We can decide what is best for ourselves.
We can be so narrow-minded sometimes, seeing only what lies before our eyes and not what is coming down the road. God sees all things. God knows all things. God knows what he's calling you to and he knows that it is the best possible path you could take.

Attempt to listen to God. Give him the throne. Let God be king. In moments where you can't see where God is leading you, or if he's even leading you at all, take heart. Stay faithful. Pray and watch for God, he'll show you what he's doing when the time is right. God uses moments in our lives like yarn, weaving a massive tapestry, and every now and then he lets us see how those moments made something beautiful out of what seemed like chaos.

Trust in God. He is the King. He knows what lies ahead.

God is Calling - 1 Samuel 3

The story of Samuel is mind-boggling to me. I can't imagine being handed off to work in a church just as soon as I am old enough to eat solid foods! Imagine how frightened he must have been. But how awesome of Hannah to be so selfless. Hannah realized that God is a father and he loves to pour out blessings, but she also understood that often God must take something in order to bless us with more (in Hannah's case, she gave one son and got 5 children out of the deal!).
We're going to take a look at 1 Samuel 3, which contains one of the most well known stories in the entire bible.

God calls to Samuel in the middle of the night and Samuel assumes it is his master, Eli. When he gets to Eli's room, Eli informs Samuel that he hadn't called for him, so Samuel returned to bed. God called Samuel two more times that night, and the same protocol was followed each time. Finally, by the third call of God, Eli realized who was calling the young man. Eli instructed Samuel: "If the voice calls again, say, 'Speak, God. I'm your servant, ready to listen." (v. 9) Samuel returned to bed and when God came calling for him, Samuel answered, "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen." (v. 10)

1. Samuel was not familiar with God.
Samuel had not had a personal encounter with God up to this point. Samuel had never heard the voice of God. But he recognized it as a voice of authority and possibly fatherly. He immediately thought it was Eli, who was his master and Eli had called him son.
In order to hear from God we have to have an encounter. A first experience.
We have to open our ears to hear him and close our mouths enough to truly listen. Meaning, we have to be willing to hear God out instead of deciding for ourselves what God is trying to communicate to us.

2. Samuel was direct with God. God was direct with Samuel.
I love the way that the Message translation puts this. "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen." So direct and to the point.
Samuel could have said "Oh Lord God, creator of the heavens which are so vast in splendor, if you wish to speak to me you may do so now because I am currently in a position where I can hear you better."
Instead Samuel cut to the chase, not wasting any time. In return, God also spoke swiftly with Samuel. He spoke plainly, putting everything out on the table.
Sometimes we make a huge scene out of speaking with God. In reality, it doesn't need to be so extravagant. Our communication with God is simple. It is son-to-Father and Father-to-son. God longs for communication not huge, scripted, Olde-English non-sense.

3. Be open to the message you receive.
Samuel knew that God had handed him some heavy information. God was planning to bring judgement on Eli and his family for the wrongs of Eli's sons. It wasn't going to be pretty. Samuel was afraid to tell Eli, he was afraid to deliver the message. But Eli summoned him, calling him his son. Eli asked Samuel to tell him everything that God said, not sparing any detail. So Samuel did. How did Eli respond? "He is God. Let him do whatever he thinks best."
While Eli recognized God's authority over the matter, his last sentence is what really gets me. "...whatever he thinks is best." God obviously knows what is best, but Eli was so distraught by God's judgement that he subtly undercut God's knowledge of what is good and just.
When we feel that God has done something unjust to us we do this same thing. Perhaps not in so many words, perhaps not even vocally; but often when we feel wronged by God, suddenly he isn't as all-knowing as he was when everything was going well.
In this instance we should take a cue from Hannah (back in chapter two) where she praises God and celebrates not only his mercy but also the fact that God gives and takes away. Hannah sings this song of praise on the very day that she gives Samuel to the church!
In all circumstances, God's will is just. We have to get behind him. When God tells us something, good or bad, we must be willing to open our hearts and our minds and accept what God is telling us.

I hope this has been encouraging for you. If you are reading this as a pastor and would like to use this for a series there is "God is Calling" artwork available for purchase at creationswap.com