Have you heard from the Queen lately? There was a message from the Queen for my mother- and father-in-law at their 60th Wedding Celebration. So nice that she remembered! Or did she? Of course not! Relatives have to fill in a form and submit it through our parliamentary representatives. And, while the letter no doubt represents the sentiments that the gracious lady would wish on such an occasion, it is not possible to say that she personally "knew" that the communication was sent or that she signed it personally.
Have you heard from the Queen lately? Why would the Queen be wanting to contact you? How would she know that she should contact you? How would she communicate her thoughts, sentiments and wishes to you?
Well, do other people hear from you? How do we go about communicating with them? We might make a phone call, write a letter, send a card… Or we might mow their lawn, cook a meal, send some flowers…
The Queen has so many people who would like to hear from her that she ends up having very strict limitations on how she can do it. In any case, she cannot possibly know everything about all the people who live in the British Commonwealth of Nations!
You and I can do better than that only because we aren't interested in contacting so many people. So we can communicate more personally in a bigger variety of ways.
Have you heard from God lately? Unlike the Queen (and unlike you yourself!) God doesn't have limits on knowing all about you or on ways of communicating his personal message to you.
Sometimes God has painted a beautiful rainbow or a glorious sunset and said, "Here I am! This is for you to enjoy!"
Listen to what the Psalmist wrote:
"How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
How plainly it shows what he has done!
Each day announces it to the following day;
each night repeats it to the next.
No speech or words are used,
no sound is heard,
yet their message goes out to all the world
and is heard to the ends of the earth" (Ps.19.1-4a).
Did you get the message? Were you listening? Were you waiting for an angel, or an audible voice…?
But God has spoken to the human race in many different ways. John began his Gospel, "Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out… The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not recognise him. [In other words, people weren't listening. They didn't recognise that in the rainbow or sunset God was telling them about himself. Too often, in fact, people began to worship and serve the trees and rocks and flowers that God has made instead of the Creator himself!] He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him. [God chose a particular people - the Israelites - so that he could make himself and his message clear to the whole human race. But again and again even they failed to receive the message.] … The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son" (John 1.1-4,10-11,14).
Have you heard from God lately? Are you listening?
It is incredible really to think about the mother so readily fulfilling her promise to the Lord concerning her first child. (She had three more sons and two daughters.) For so long she had been bitter and childless, yet she was willing to give up her child to the Lord. She only saw him once a year, bringing with her a robe she had made for him - bigger each year for a growing boy!
We marvel at the sovereign grace of God in all of this. Her original promise didn't say at what stage he would be brought to the tabernacle. She decided it should be the very next time she made the annual visit - "as soon as the child is weaned." God does have an important work for parents to do. When Jesus the Son of God was growing up, he submitted himself to Mary and Joseph and didn't in fact begin his ministry until he was thirty years old.
But for another reason we marvel at the sovereign grace of God. In many ways young Samuel would have had a better example of faith in God and godly living at home than at the tabernacle at Shiloh!
"The sons of Eli were scoundrels, They paid no attention to the Lord or to the regulations concerning what the priests could demand from the people" (2.12-17), They were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the Tent of the Lord's presence (v.22).
Eli warned them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. An unnamed prophet came to Eli and told him how serious was the sin of his two sons. While they would die for their own sins, there would be a measure of responsibility resting on the father. The Lord would choose "a priest who will be faithful to me and do everything I want him to" (v.35).
One night he was sleeping in the Sanctuary near the Covenant Box and, before dawn, he heard his name called. He jumped up promptly and ran to where Eli was sleeping - "You called me, and here I am."
Probably every parent here has had something like this happen to them some time - you can empathise with Eli! The first time he might have rubbed his eyes, yawned and said, "No, Samuel, I didn't call you; go back to bed."
But it happened a second time and we can well imagine a sense of irritation in Eli's attitude. "Look, Samuel, I need a good night's sleep and so do you. Go back to bed."
But when Samuel appears at the door the third time, Eli realises that the Lord must be calling the boy. "Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening'."
Samuel learnt to listen to the Lord and became a great prophet in Israel.
God speaks to us in many and various ways. Don't forget to thank him for the rainbow or that flower. Recognise and thank him for the kindness received through someone else.
Be sure to read his written Word, the Bible. Here is an old prayer, "Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen." Notice the important words, "hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest…" That's really absorbing the Word, taking it in, allowing it to change and direct our actions…
The written Word points us to Jesus, the living Word. Jesus said to the Jewish authorities, "You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me! Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life" (John 5.39-40). Put your trust in Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. "God so loved the world…" is a personal word to you if you "believe in him".
As you absorb the written Word and trust in Jesus the living Word, be open to the Holy Spirit for any specific guidance the Lord may want to bring to you for your own life and through you for others.
It has been said that too often our relationship to the Lord is expressed in "Listen, Lord! Your servant is speaking!" instead of "Speak, Lord! Your servant is listening!" May the Lord help us to be good and obedient listeners.
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