"Then the Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." He answered, " I did not call, my son; lie down again."
1 Samuel 2:6
I was just a young child when daddy introduced our family to the CB radio (Citizens Band). It is a radio system that allows person to person voice communication to happen between two people using two way radios operating through a host of different channels. Daddy had one installed in our big, yellow van and when we took to the open road we were able to talk with others who happened to own one of these devices also.
As a family we each had our own 'handle' (mine being 'little bit'). Daddy taught us some of the code system for how to talk on them. As we traveled I remember sometimes in the dark of night I could hear daddy talking to these strange voices that came across the radio waves. Breaker breaker, and ten-four, good buddy was a regular phrase I can remember off the top of my head. Daddy said the majority of the people he talked to were truck drivers.
One day we were traveling down a stretch of road and daddy called out for help on the CB, the trucker came over the speaker and asked for our vehicle's handle and what our 10-20 was. Daddy responded with, 'The Big Banana' (being yellow and all) and proceeded to tell him what interstate we were on. All of a sudden the nice trucker says he spotted us and we were in the clear (talk for no police officers in the area or 'Smokey' in the cb world). It was truly a different world back then (the good old days as I like to call them).
The scripture above is when God called Samuel's name in the middle of the night. The Word of the Lord was rare in those days and Samuel did not know the Lord yet. Eli, the priest, had already gone to bed and Samuel had just laid down for the night when he heard a voice he thought was Eli call his name, not once but three times, and each time Samuel runs to Eli's side. On the third time Eli realizes that the voice he was hearing was that of God so he instructs him on what to say if He calls again.
"Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." (1 Sam. 3:9-10)
Are you tuned into God's channel? God desires all of us to experience the blessings of knowing Him. When you seek an intimate, personal relationship with the heavenly Father, He reveals Himself to you. Don't let His voice be that of a stranger.
I love you & He loves you more!
Dear Lord, You are the same today as You were in the Bible times. Your desire is to speak to us and lead us, and may we hear Your still, small voice and obediently follow. In Jesus' name. Amen.