Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to listen to Andrew’s sermon: Increase Our Faith. One of the things he mentioned was that we do not need more information to step out in our faith. There are many examples of this in the bible (Andrew mentioned Abram’s travels); I came across one in 1 Samuel 3; when the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel was a boy who assisted Eli the priest in the temple of the Lord, given into this service at an early age by his mother. At that time, God spoke through very few prophets and the Word of the Lord was scarce. So, when the Lord called Samuel; Samuel did not know the Lord (had not encountered Him yet) and believed the one who called him was Eli.
Though Samuel did not recognize God’s voice, he knew that it called for ACTION. There were many things Samuel didn’t know yet, but he went as he knew best then; to Eli. And Eli denied that it was he who had called Samuel, telling Samuel to go to bed, until he was woken up for the third time and realized that it was the Lord who called Samuel.
Samuel didn’t know everything about his situation, but he acted the best that he could, based on what he had heard. When Eli realized it was the Lord who spoke and instructed Samuel to respond accordingly, Samuel trusted Eli and obeyed, leading him to receive God’s word.
We might not know everything about what God is calling us into, but sometimes it takes the action of stepping out in faith for God to reveal the next step. It might not be the perfect direction; Samuel went to Eli three times before he was prompted to answer the Lord, but God is merciful and corrects our missteps. And when we know better, we do better.
Faithfulness is not just about believing, but acting on what we believe God is calling us to step into next. As we grow in our journeys of increasing faith, may we listen and be quick to obey. What is that first step God is calling you to take? How can you actively respond?