You once again do not need me to tell you that it is summer around here.  We hit the season of heat and humidity here in Texas.  People are already far into their travel plans over the next few months.  I sometimes wonder why some go to places where it is this hot for their escapes.  My vote is to take off for cooler climates wherever they may be.  It is obvious that not everyone consults me on their plans.  So far the only place my world is going is back into the past.

We are still on the early stretch of our look at 1 Samuel on Sunday mornings.  That is a distance of about 3000 years in the past.  Scripture tells us how God will work through a young boy to set into motion the renewal of a nation.  No one expected such an event yet it still came to pass.  Surely there was not a soul who could imagine it would begin with one perhaps as young as an early teenager.  But our plans are seldom what God intends.  He seems to choose people in His value not ours.  We do still miss that far too often.  Our measure is usually our position or experience when we come to God.  He sees past that into our heart. 

What makes this happen is God's word.  This time we are not talking about scripture but His active voice in the present tense.  Samuel will learn at the start what it is to have God actively speaking to his life.  It is that call that changes everything in his life and the life of a nation.  One of the greatest drawbacks to contemporary spiritual life is we just do not imagine that God would talk to us.  Maybe we figure our life is that unimportant.  Perhaps we draw up artificial obstacles to taking that risk.  To miss this is to miss half of the equation of our praying and our maturity.  The other character in this story no longer seems to grasp God speaking.  Eli seems dim to what divine action is taking place around him.  It is that coldness that leads to divine judgment rather than blessing. 

God communicating with us means we are alive.  We know Him enough to recognize that divine call.  That is an amazing gift to us who are His followers.  We are given the  opportunity to hear a holy God share His insight with us.  How profound becomes our world when we realize that truth?  Even the most normal of believer would end up in a new sphere of life and growth.  That is not just something from our past but for our present.

Bro. Trey