June 26

The Call of Samuel

            The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.  Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

                Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.  On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.  For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

                 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.  But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.”  Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”  So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

1 Samuel 3:8-18

    

            What a rough way to begin your life as a prophet.  God calls to the boy Samuel throughout the night.  He does not recognize that the voice belongs to the Lord until the nation’s judge and priest, Eli, tells him how to respond.  When Samuel listens to the word of God, his heart drops.  Eli’s sons have been abusing their position, living a life of greed and debauchery and leading the people of Israel astray.  Their sin will not be ignored any longer and the enabling of their father will come to an end as well.  Eli’s house will end soon by the hand of God.

            Imagine that you are Samuel, only a boy and only able to remember living and working  and learning from Eli.  How do you tell your friend and mentor that they have sinned in the eyes of the Lord and His judgement will be falling upon them?  How do you tell the person who trained you and raised you that God has seen their sin and the worst day of their life is just around the corner?

            For Samuel, the situation was fairly simple.  Eli could tell that the boy had heard something awful and told Samuel to let him know the truth.  I have had days where I had to give someone a bad job evaluation because it was the only way that they were going to get better.  Those days have the potential to be really hard or really good, depending on how they receive the criticism.  There have been some days that I had to give bad news that I knew was going to devastate someone’s life.  Those are lousy days.  

            Then there are some days where I see things and have the choice on whether to speak or not.  This usually comes when I recognize symptoms of autism in other people’s children.  The kids are avoiding eye contact or they won’t stop moving or their speech is not age appropriate or they bang their head on walls or they have an encyclopedic knowledge of specific interests..things that I have seen in my son over and over throughout the years.  I could go up to the parent and tell them that in my non-professional opinion their child is on the spectrum.  I could just leave them alone and let the parents deal with it on their own and in their own time.

            What I usually do is approach the parent and tell them how much I enjoyed their child and tell them what an amazing job they are doing as the parent.  When the tears stop, we will often talk about the challenges that they have faced and the trouble spots that they are currently wrestling with.  They share their stories; I share mine.  If it seems like bringing up the word autism would be helpful, I will.  Usually we just need to be heard and encouraged for a few minutes in order for our day and week to be dramatically better. 

  

A moment to reflect:

Can you think of another parent that you could encourage this week?