The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 1 Sam 3:10

Can you figure this out? You are in a store, two people are in front of you waiting to checkout. You wait patiently and step to the counter and the store phone rings. The clerk answers the phone leaving you waiting. Why is it more important to take the call than wait on a paying customer who has been patiently waiting?

Imagine if you will – God waiting patiently while you take care of all the concerns that claim your attention and just as it is His turn your cell phone rings. There is that little voice in your ear you can’t deny hearing.

Samuel heard God call three times. "Naw, can’t be. Must be the old prophet." He was no different that we are. Never in his lifetime did he ever expect God to speak to him. For all Samuel knew, God was way off somewhere and didn’t bother with a petty nothing person like him. Is that the way you feel about God? Way off somewhere and not concerned with you?

People ask, "How do you know you are called to ministry?" When asked, ministers, preachers, pastors, and priests answer in different ways. The answers are different because God knows our souls and each is different so God uses different words for each person. It may be that a person has feelings of emptiness or perhaps lonliness or a burning desire to be more than what they are. God speaks in His own speak way to address that "feeling". A person may discount it and say, "it's just a weird feeling, nothing more." But most admit to themselves that as improbable as it is that God does speak and will either obey or go into denial.

God calls to each one of us each day of our lives. He speaks in a still small voice that only the soul can hear. His presence, as He calls, is undeniable. Even now He speaks to you – listen!