Walk in the NarrowsSample

I didn’t call you, go back to bed!

Once, I was sitting in a church building on a desperately hot night in the Amazon region of Brazil. I was listening to people worshipping God in a language I just couldn’t understand, and in that moment, just alone whispering my heart to Jesus, I was met by the Holy Spirit. He brought to the deepest parts of my heart and mind a peace and love I didn’t know existed. I was from a loving Christian home, knew the love of both parents, but this landed differently. As I experienced this love and tears started to well up, I felt in the next moment, a deep conviction of sin. I felt the Holy Spirit whisper into my life that I wasn’t the man I needed to be. He showed a way forward, with him, into a life that would be lived with him, a life that would move me closer and further into my love and trust of Jesus and worship of God the Father. Union and relationship with the living God, Father, Son and Spirit.

We will explore this a bit more as we journey through this study, but what I want to highlight here is that your culture, society, and the "noise" around your life will numb your senses and hearing to the Holy Spirit’s whisper.

In the bible passage for today, Samuel, a young boy, maybe 12 years old, was living and serving at the tabernacle. This was a portable sanctuary, or place of worship, that the people of Israel used during their journey through the wilderness of Egypt. After God had met with his mum, Hannah, she dedicated Samuel to serve there, and he did, under the supervision of the priest, Eli.

God called Samuel three times, and each time he raced to Eli in the night, saying, ‘here I am, did you call me?’ Eli just didn’t expect God to be calling Samuel like this, his own radar for God’s voice and desire to call had long been switched off. What the Lord gave to Samuel was, in fact, bad news for Eli, and it exposed how long ago he had lost sight of God’s voice and presence and what was to come.

The point I want to make here is that social media, influencers, TV, music, contemporary culture, and the "filter" that these all apply will, in my opinion, act like a numbing gel to your senses in hearing the whisper of the Holy Spirit. Eli wasn’t expecting God’s voice, his attention was elsewhere, and that’s what I have found contemporary "static and noise" can do. I am not saying run from the noise in life, throw your phone away, or smash your TV. There are a lot of positives in these things. But the awareness of what "occupies" your mind, heart, and gaze could be revealing, and being able to sift, weigh, and measure the "noise" in your life and even your heart is essential.

• Do you want to hear God’s voice?
• Are you finding time to be still and listen?