Samuel: Listening for God's voice

I saw Samuel in front of the courthouse. He was standing under a small tree to shelter himself from the scorching sun. My heart was drawn to him and I stopped to talk. After a minute of small talk, I asked him his name and he said, "Samuel." I asked him if he knew where that name came from and he said, "It’s from the Bible." and he began to tell me the story as his grandmother had told it to him . . .

"When Samuel was a little boy, he heard a voice calling his name and he thought it was the priest. When he went to the priest, he said, "I didn’t call you." and the boy Samuel didn’t know what to think. Finally, the priest said to him, "The next time you hear the voice calling you, answer him, it might be the Lord."

I told Samuel that was my favorite story in the Bible when I was a kid and I used to lie away at night listening as carefully as I could to see if I could hear God calling my name. If I even imagined I heard my name, I would say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listing.""And did he ever speak to you," Samuel asked me. And I said, "He did! I never heard an audible voice, but I learned to hear the voice of God in my heart and I have tried to listen and follow that voice my whole life. I haven’t always gotten it right. I haven’t always obeyed. But when I listen to God and obey his voice, it always leads to something good."

"Well," Samuel said, "has God said anything to you lately?" to which I responded, "Yes, he has. In fact, he asked me to stop and talk to you today." Samuel got wide-eyed. He grinned and said, "Are you kidding me?" and I said, "No, I’m not kidding you. God loves you. He made you for a great purpose and he wants today to be a turn-around day in your life." He was becoming emotional by now.

"I went to church with my grandma when I was young, but I didn’t get much out of it. She was a hard-core religious woman," he said, "and she told me what was what. But I never really got into it."

I assured him, "Religion is not what you need, Samuel. You need to receive Jesus by faith right now and he will be your closest companion from this day forward." And immediately, Samuel was willing to do it. He said to me, "I think God send you to me today because today I’m sober and I’m not usually sober. Today I can hear what you’re saying and understanding it."

I prayed with Samuel and asked God to reveal his love to him. I prayed that he would be set free from his alcohol addiction and that God would give him the power to live his life for Christ. I told Samuel I was meeting with several guys at noon tomorrow for a Bible study and prayer. He promised he would be there. I promised Samuel I would pray for him and had a lot of friends who would call his name to the Lord as well. Thanks for lifting up Samuel White in prayer.