Eli and SamuelThis is such a frequently heard story that we might be tempted to read it quickly and assume that we know what it means. It may be valuable to spend more time with these words to let their full weight and measure sink into us and speak. God calls us just as surely as he called the innocent boy Samuel. God has work in mind for us, just as surely as he did for the earnest young man Samuel. God loves us fully and always, just as he does the constant prophet Samuel.
Samuel is dedicated to the Lord by his mother Hannah – and we can read this story in the opening chapters. So that we are not tempted to believe that Samuel has some sort of advantage over us by his living in the Temple, we will want to look closely at verse 7: At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord.
George Tinswell: Hannah bringing Samuel to EliWhen we seek God’s wisdom by reading scripture, searching for spiritual reflections that open the word to us, we too seek as the young Samuel sought. One detail of this story which we may overlook is the corruption of Eli’s sons about which we can read in Chapter 2. When we consider this carefully, we will no longer have excuses to offer for the reasons we are not always faithful to God. Our defense of a complicated childhood, a difficult workplace, or a prickly family or neighbors will no longer hold water. When we see Samuel grow to his potential despite the weeds among which he grew, we come to understand that there is no reason we cannot begin to grow in God . . . in order that we become familiar with the Lord.
When we turn to others to share the good news we have heard about God’s revealed word to us, we too prophesy as Samuel did. Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. We may frown at this simple statement and wonder why some of our words fall on deaf ears and some of our actions are scoffed. Rather than preoccupy ourselves with these anxieties, we might better want to place all of these worries at God’s feet and remember that only God can cure impossible people and mend impossible situations. As we read the Story of Samuel as a grown man in later chapters we will see the struggles he encounters with the stiff necked people who clamor for a king. Samuel will confess to God that he has been a poor messenger and God will reply: It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king. As they have treated me constantly from the day I brought them up from Egypt to this day, deserting me and worshiping strange gods, so do they treat you too. (1 Samuel 8:7-8) We ought not be surprised when others reject the words we speak in God’s name, we are told. These people reject God himself. Like Samuel, all we need do is remain faithful to God and continue to walk in God’s way . . . knowing that we are learning to become familiar with the Lord.
Georges De la Tour: Awakening EliWhen we stand firm in God at the expense of our comfort, when we witness faithfully and run the risk of losing some of what we are in the world, we too will be familiar with Lord . . . just as Samuel grew to be. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh: he manifested himself to Samuel at Shiloh through his word, and Samuel spoke to all Israel. We may wish to hear God’s voice more distinctly. We may want God to touch us more obviously. We may long for stark clarity from our God. Yet let us consider these facts. We are created in God’s image. We are dearly loved. We are accompanied by angels, saints and even God himself. We are sustained, harbored, cajoled, wooed, healed, restored and saved by God. We are even given the freedom to return this love . . . or to reject it. We are given the opportunity to deeply, intensely and even passionately become so familiar with our God that we are able to wake in the night and respond to that quiet call of our name: Here I am!
When we begin to doubt, when we begin to frown at what we believe we do nothave from God, let us consider what it is we dohave. And let us grow as Samuel grew, to become ever more familiar with the Lord.
The Noontimes 