Voice Recognition

1 Samuel 3:7-8 “Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me? Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.”

So, Eli gave Samuel a crash course on hearing from God. 1 Samuel 3:9-10 “So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. 

And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” It is easy, sometimes, to confuse what God is saying with what other voices in our lives are saying. Sometimes, the message that God is giving to you, you have also heard from another voice in your life.

So, it sounds like the voice in your life. Sometimes, God brings a message into your life and it sounds like your spouse, children, parents, colleagues, or Pastor speaking to you. If we think the message is coming from a friend, spouse, or children, we shut it down. The challenge is we put our disobedience on others and claim that it is because he or she said it. But in your heart of hearts, you know that it may have the voice of a friend, but it was the Word of God. You can hear the voice of Eli, but you are hearing the Word of God, or you are getting a message from God. The important thing is the message. What is the chaff from the wheat, the voice from the message? It is the message that is important. 

Sometimes, God will use the voices in your life to bring His message into your life. Until Samuel embraced the voice of Eli, he could not be released into the Word of God. Until Samuel embraced the voice of Eli, he could not be released into the message that God had for him. The voice of Eli released Samuel into the message from God. After Eli told Samuel what to do, God began to tell Samuel the message He had for Samuel Himself. So, the deep things of God will be released to you personally, but the initial beckoning can be delivered by the voice of the people. I pray you will understand this in Jesus Name. No matter how strange or upsetting the voice of the people in your life sounds, it is only an invitation to deeper things that God wants to tell you personally. But you must take that posture and embrace the voice. 

You cannot kick against the pricks. Every prophet understands that at some point even the donkey can speak. The focus is not on the donkey, the focus is getting the message. Which then triggers and unlocks the deeper things that God wants to say to you personally. If you do not understand this, you begin to shoot the messengers and miss the message. 

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to always recognize Your voice and Your message regardless of who is speaking, in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!