Again, the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But he answered, “I did not call you my son. Go back to sleep.”

Samuel did not recognize the Lord, since the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.

1 Samuel 3:6-7

“Samuel did not recognize the Lord, since the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? Samuel had grown up in church. He had spent almost every moment of his life in church, but he couldn’t recognize the voice of the Lord. Up until this moment, he believed in God, even lived in the house of God, but could not recognize the voice of God. Everything changed for him when he learned to hear God’s voice. It was his defining moment.

The voice of the Lord is something we need to recognize, but we will not recognize it until we believe God has a personal message for us. The stories in the Bible are not about how God spoke to the people in the past and helped guide their life, but that you can’t have that kind of relationship with God. Too bad, so sad. No, not at all.

The Bible tells us stories about how God spoke to people in the past as a model for what he wants to do for us in the present. And, just as people struggled in the past to “hear” God’s voice or didn’t recognize it at first, we might as well. Just because you haven’t recognized God’s voice does not mean God is not speaking to you. Maybe, just like Samuel, you haven’t yet learned how to recognize God’s voice.

Today, profess your belief that God wants to speak to you. Pray today for the grace to be able to hear more clearly from God.