Encouragement in Evil Days

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 5
 
“The Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.” 1 Samuel 3:6-7
I love to read about young Samuel. What an encouragement for us moms! Hannah brought her precious son to Eli and left him at the temple of the Lord even though wickedness was occurring there. But she relinquished him in faith, feeling sure God wanted him there.
We read that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Maybe this made Hannah even more afraid to let go of her little son, and yet we find it was in this very place that the Lord spoke to Samuel and revealed Himself to him. Since he did not yet know the Lord, he didn’t even recognize His voice. But one thing we do see. He was taught to come when called. He had learned obedience in the short time Hannah had had him.
It was Eli who perceived that the Lord had called the child. But it is interesting to see that still Samuel did not call him Lord as Eli had instructed him to, because it says Samuel still did not know the Lord.
After the Lord reveals Himself to Samuel that all changed. Verse 19 says “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him.” Verse 21 says, “for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” In today’s language, we might say this child now knew something of the lordship of Christ. And so we can take courage from this passage that God can reveal Himself to our children in a difficult place, even in a place where there is wickedness going on.