Here I am

 

In 1 Samuel 3:2-10 it is written,

Eli’s eyes were getting so weak that he was almost blind. One night he went to his room to go to bed. The special lamp in the Lord’s temple was still burning, so Samuel lay down in the temple near where the Holy Box was. The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, “Here I am.” Samuel thought Eli was calling him, so he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”

So Samuel went back to bed.  Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” Again Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”

Samuel did not yet know the Lord because the Lord had not spoken directly to him before.

The Lord called Samuel the third time. Again Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

Finally, Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy.  Eli told Samuel, “Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I am your servant, and I am listening.’”

So Samuel went back to bed. The Lord came and stood there. He called as he did before, saying, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel said, “Speak. I am your servant, and I am listening.”

I’ve always really enjoyed this passage of Scripture because it shows that God’s call can come in an unexpected way. Samuel was convinced that Eli, the priest with whom he lived, was calling him, he hadn’t a clue that the voice he was hearing was God’s voice.

You see, Samuel’s parents were Elkanah and Hannah, a devout and devoted couple, who went to the temple at Shiloh each year to make the annual sacrifice. Elkanah had two wives, one was fertile, but Hannah was not and her childlessness led her to pour out her brokenness in supplication to God. Trusting that God would answer her prayer, she promised to give to God the son she had been requesting; that son was Samuel. Hannah kept her promise to God and after Samuel was weaned, she presented him to Eli, then sang praises to God (see 1 Samuel 1 and 2:1-10).

The story of Samuel also reminds me of another boy who received a call from God but unlike Samuel, did not immediately heed that call. Like Jonah, he tried to go in the opposite direction, and God allowed him to run for a very long time but eventually, placed in a position where he could no longer run, he had no choice but to answer God's call and since then, God has been using him in a mighty way. Praise God!

Beloved, God’s call can come in different ways; His call is not based on your age, your ethnicity, your gender, your level of education, your marital status, your position in life or your own feelings of worthiness to be called.

Has God been calling you? Stop running! When He calls again, and trust me, He will call, earnestly and loudly shout, ”Here I am! Speak, Your servant is listening!”

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Here I am” © 2026 July 5, 2026