God's Story: Samuel
So part of God's story is about Samuel, and it goes like this.
Samuel was a prophet or a person who hears from God and shares God's messages with others.
And everything God says is true.
The first time Samuel heard from God, he was actually a kid.
One night when Samuel was sleeping, he heard someone calling his name.
This might have seemed really strange.
So Samuel woke up and thought Eli, who lived in the same place, was calling for him.
Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am.
You called me?"
But Eli said, "I did not call you.
Go lie back down."
So, Samuel lay back down.
Then he heard his name again.
He ran to Eli a second time and said, "Here I am.
You called me?"
And Eli said again, "I did not call you.
Go lie back down."
This must have been really confusing.
Samuel lay back down, and then it happened again.
When he ran to Eli a third time, Eli thought it might be God who was talking to Samuel.
Eli said, "Go and lie down.
If someone calls out to you again, say, 'Speak, Lord.'
I am listening."
Samuel obeyed.
When he heard someone say, "Samuel," he answered, "Speak, Lord.
I am listening."
And you know what?
It was God.
And God had lots of things to say to Samuel.
God told Samuel some difficult news that he had to deliver to Eli.
Now, Eli was a priest but had made some wrong choices so God told Samuel
that Eli wasn't going to be allowed to be a priest anymore.
Samuel was scared, because he was pretty sure Eli was going to get upset.
But Samuel obeyed God anyway.
At first, Eli was upset.
But then Eli said, "He is the Lord.
Let him do what he thinks is best."
See, sometimes people don't like hearing what God has to say.
But a prophet has to care more about what God says than what people say.
When Samuel grew up, the Israelites asked him to pick someone to be their king.
Samuel wasn't sure this was what God wanted so he asked God about it.
God said, "Tomorrow I will send a man to you.
He is from the land of Benjamin.
He is the one I have picked to be kind of Israel."
Sure enough, the next day, a tall, strong man came to Samuel.
When Samuel looked at him, he heard God say, "He is the man I told you about.
His name is Saul.
He will rule over my people."
Samuel heard what God told him to do, and he obeyed.
Samuel anointed Saul as a symbol that God had picked him to be king.
But Saul ended up being pretty selfish and making a lot of wrong choices.
And when God said it was time to replace Saul with a new king, God sent Samuel to anoint
a shepherd boy - the youngest and smallest of his brothers named David.
David also heard from God and obeyed.
And David grew up to be the greatest king Israel ever had until a long time later when
a boy named Jesus was born.
Even as a kind, Jesus showed people around him how to hear from God and obey.
See, everyone can hear from God - kids, grown-ups, kings, cowboys, moms, dads, mimes, teachers,
astronauts, bird-watchers, bird-watching mimes, everyone.
We can hear from him in the middle of the night when we're trying to sleep.
Or we might hear something that surprises us.
But we don't have to be a grown-up or a prophet or a king in order for God to notice us and
for us to hear from him.
It's like when God told Samuel, "The lord does not look at the things people look at.
People look at the outward appearance.
But the lord looks at the heart."
And that's a little about the story of Samuel.
So in case you missed it, here's the quick version:
Samuel was a boy who heard from God.
God talked to him in the middle of the night.
God told Samuel to make Saul a king.
Later, God told Samuel to make David king.
Samuel heard from God and obeyed.
We can hear from God too.
And that's a part of God's story.