The God of the Old Testament was very present to me on retreat last week. One day, I was reflecting on the story of the call of Samuel:
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am."
He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep." So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "You called me." But he answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep."
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3)
The story of Samuel reminded me of a song by Sufjan Stevens ("He Woke Me Up Again") which in turn caused me to reflect on the amazing persistence of God in my life. I tried to capture the essence of this prayer experience in this video reflection.
2 comments:
Hi Susan, how are you? I have a question regarding that subject? I was reading Isaiah52:6- I thought it was interesting that all his servants answers with " Here I am" but now God saying it is he who is saying Here I am! Do you have any clarification or your opinion on that verse
Well, God is after all the great "I am." I think it's a wonderful play on words. Our gracious God and creator in my experience uses the beauty of creation all the time to shout at those of us who might not notice, "Here I am!". And then ...we, when we quiet down enough to here his call, respond in return.
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