When God Wants Our Attention – Daily Devotional

[Music] here's today's in-touch devotion three [Music] was attending to the service of the Lord before Eli and word from the Lord was rare in those days Visions were infrequent but it happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place now his eyesight had begun to be poor and he could not see well and the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was that the Lord called Samuel and he said here I am then he ran to

Eli and said here I am for you called me but he said I did not call go back and lie down so he went and lay down and the Lord called yet again Samuel so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said here I am for you called me but he said I did not call my son go back and lie down now Samuel did not yet know the Lord nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him so the Lord called Samuel again for the third time and he got up

and went to Eli and said here I am for you called me then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy and Eli said to Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he calls you that you shall say Speak Lord for your servant is listening so Samuel went and lay down in his place then the Lord came and stood and called as at the other times Samuel Samuel and Samuel said speak for your servant is listening then the Lord said to Samuel behold I am going to do a thing in Israel and

both ears of everyone who hears about it will ring on that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken in regard to his house from beginning to end for I have told him that I am going to judge his house forever for the wrong doing that he knew because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the wrongdoing of Eli's house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering so Samuel lay down until morning then

he opened the doors of the house of the Lord but Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son and he said here I am he said what is the word that he spoke to you please do not hide it from me may God do the same to you and more so if you hide a single word from me of all the words that he spoke to you so Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him and he said he is the Lord let him do

what seems good to him now Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and he let none of his words fail and all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord and the Lord appeared again at Shiloh because the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord have you ever felt Restless as if something's not quite right at times God will use that feeling to get our attention take Samuel for example he literally couldn't rest because a voice kept calling his name

in the dark and he assumed it was Eli the priest calling out finally after the third Interruption Eli realized the boy was hearing God's voice for Samuel the sense of restlessness was physical but it can also be a mental or emotional feeling this is something God uses to prompt and guide those of us who are believers to pay close attention to him in Samuel's case the Lord revealed to him the plans he had for Eli's family at first this information made Samuel anxious he was afraid to tell Eli about God's judgment and apparently didn't sleep

that night could he even have wished that he had ignored that feeling of uneasiness ultimately though the restlessness proved worthwhile scripture tells us that Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and he let none of his words fail no matter how or why God lets us feel unsettled his purpose is always good so we can trust the Lord and safely investigate our feelings of restlessness without fear seek to listen discern and Obey then even if you like Samuel aren't initially sure where the uneasiness is coming from the holy spirit will guide you God is

in control and his plans cannot be thwarted