"Speak, for your servant is listening" (1 Samuel 3:10); "I will listen to what God the Lord will say: he promises peace to his people, his saints" (Psalm 85:8); "Two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving" (Psalm 62:11,12).

There is a philosophical question that if a tree falls and no one is there to hear it, then does it make a sound? The same can be said for our spiritual experiences. God calls us by name but, if we don't listen and respond, then we lose the interest and the principle--and the Principal. What is so touching in the third chapter of 1 Samuel is that Samuel ran into Eli's room three times, thinking that it was the elderly Eli who had called him. The voice was so human-like that Samuel was sure it was Eli. Sometimes we receive calls and rebukes in the familiar voices of relatives and friends. We would do well to be able to distinguish them as messages from God. God often uses human instruments to bring about Divine results.

"Now get up and go...and you will be told what to do" (Acts 9:6). God no longer speaks directly to us as He did to Samuel, but He does speak in His providence through the various people, events and actions in our lives, the new opportunities we have each day to renew our covenant with Him and the new responsibilities of each day that afford us the chance to serve Him and others.

God speaks to us consistently and insistently in nature, in history, and in the gift of reasoning powers. He speaks to us as individuals: "I have called you by name; you are mine" (Isaiah 43:1b). Yes, Lord, I will listen and I will learn that You are a strong and loving God who wants us to be not just hearers but listeners who learn well what You want for us in our lives.