Listen

Again the Lord called Samuel, so Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

“I didn’t call, my son,” Eli replied. “Go and lie down.”

(Now Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, and the Lord’s word hadn’t yet been revealed to him.)

1 Samuel 3:6-7

Think

Part of growing up and part of growing in our faith is learning how to really listen. At times, we claim to be “listening” while being too eager to respond. At school or in daily life, we might give a funny answer to a question, because we were trying to anticipate what the question might be.

Sometimes, when we’re so eager to hear God, we mistake everything for the voice of God, sort of like how Samuel mistakes God’s voice to be Eli’s. It can be frustrating to hear something, follow that path, believing it to be the one God has laid out for us, and find a dead end.

The truth is that God will remain a deep, divine mystery that we spend our whole lives trying to understand. In difficult moments, try to get caught in the wonder of anticipation – “what will God do next?” – rather than the skepticism or doubt that assumes “God doesn’t know me.” God knows you and loves you immensely. Rest in that promise today.

Daniel Potter

Pray

In good moments and bad, O God, help me to turn towards you, to try and hear your true voice. Let me be less likely to blame dead ends on you and more likely to believe that your path for me simply lies somewhere else, a new opportunity ahead. You know me and the path you’ve laid for me. Guide me forward, I pray. Amen.

Go

The Creator of the Cosmos, the one who formed all that was or is or will be, is the same God who breathed breath into you, the one who knit you together, the one who knows you best, and the one who calls you.

Know this gift more deeply today, and share it as freely as you received it: You are called and known.