Rico Ignace<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 that the\u00a0Lord\u00a0called Samuel; and he said, \u201cHere I am.\u201d<\/em> 1 Samuel 3:4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have a distinct memory from my childhood that remains fresh to this day. It must have been in the afternoon because the room was well-lit. I recall lying on the bed, on my back, with the left side of my body against the wall. I was fidgety and sweeping my left leg back and forth across the wall, for no good reason. (Do little boys need a reason?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I was thinking. Just thinking. Then an idea entered my mind, \u201cGod, I wonder if You are real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout childhood and into my teens, I did think God was real, although I\u2019m not sure how often I thought about God. I suppose that I took purpose and God for granted. I don\u2019t know why, but somehow I believed that God was for me. I even felt special! Not more special than anyone, just the regular special that Jesus wants us all to know and feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later in my teen years, when things were explained more fully to me, I realized Jesus was who I had been waiting for. Having long felt that God existed, it was nice to finally attach a name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With time, the knowing became more than merely nice. It grew into understanding, then promise, and the promise became certain. In the certainty, I found belonging, and everything that attends belonging \u2013 love for the moment, hope in tomorrow, a humility for days past. I was a man transformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a boy named Samuel who heard audibly from God. I suspect few can claim his experience, yet all seekers have shared in the form. We experience a prompting, then an invitation to respond. In Samuel\u2019s case, the response was, \u201cHere I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was a child, I spoke to God in wondering, which surely is hardly a stone\u2019s toss from, \u201cHere I am\u201d. I imagine you have shared in wondering questions, too? Thanks be to God that He answers them, each and every one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listening Prompt<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I invite you to share in wonderings about Jesus. Try the advice of Samuel\u2019s mentor, Eli. In 1 Sam 3:9, Eli had the boy do two things: first, go lie down – so, find a space or niche to calm and relax. Second, make the following offering: \u201cyour servant is listening.\u201d Seek to engage with the Lord by relaxing, posing a wondering question, presenting a servant\u2019s heart, and waiting on Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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