You Called?

My wife asks, "What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything," I tell her.

"Oh.  I thought I heard you."

Does this ever happen to you?

Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. - 1 Samuel 3:4-5

What happens to Samuel is so familiar to us that we laugh.  But unlike our experiences where we think we hear something that wasn't there, Samuel hears something that is there, but others don't hear it.

Now what if every time my wife thinks I am calling her, she really is hearing something I don't hear,just like Samuel?  And what if like Samuel, she goes back to what she was doing?

Will God call again?

We have ways of finding out who called our phones.  Caller ID and voicemail are two examples.  We can call back, but how do we return God's call?

Printed in our bulletins each Sunday is the message: You can turn off your cell phones.  God knows how to contact you if He wants you.

I think Samuel's experience is not unique.  I think God wants us in conversation all the time.  Most of the  time, though, we miss the call.

Imagine a vast network of agents, people ready to take on an assignment, going about their business seeming like ordinary people.  When the call comes, they jump into action.  If the agent that gets the call isn't close enough, he or she may call another, relaying the message, and they go.

We are God's agents, His network.  When someone needs help, God calls.  The message starts on its way, being relayed from person to person until it finds the one most suited to act.

If one of the agents fails to take the call, or fails to relay the message, it is possible the assignment will fail.

Suppose that is how prayers work.

I pray for help for myself or someone else, and God sends the word out through His network.  The Spirit of God in us is the communication network.  And it moves us to answer.

When we feel moved to do something we hadn't planned, like call an old friend, visit someone, or one of a million other things, that could be the Spirit guiding us.  We could be answering God's call.  We could be helping to answer someone's prayer.

So, the next time my wife says, "What did you say?"  I think I will take a moment to wonder what message is being relayed through that network.

I may have to stop and listen to the silence, where God's voice may be heard.

More to come...