Instruction
I Samuel 3:8, “So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”
Samuel was a “prophet in training”; verse 7 says that Samuel did not know the Lord yet, so when God called him he did not understand that it was the Lord. After, several misinterpretations by him thinking that it was Eli who called him Eli understood that it was God. He gave Samuel instructions about how he should respond to God.
As men(and women) of God we all need instruction by people who are farther along in their walk with God than we. No preacher, prophet or priest comes into this world fully equipped to understand the calling of God. I was told a story by one of my mentors, John Riley, after I delivered my first sermon, that lasted about 10 minutes, of how Billy Graham, the great evangelist, did the first sermon he preached. Billy was delivering a sermon, and he was unsure what God wanted him to preach; so he wrote out three sermons. When he finally stood before the congregation to give the sermon he preached the first one, and when he got through with that one he noticed that there was a lot of time left so he went to the next one. After he was through he noticed there was still more time, so he preached the third. The moral of the story is that even though Billy would eventually become the greatest evangelist of the twentieth century he did not start that way. We all have a time where we must learn and grow in the Lord before we reach the potential God has placed in us.
The Bible instructs us many times to receive instruction and guidance from those who are farther along in their walk, and more spiritual than we are; so we should always be ready to look to others to get instruction. We should also be prepared at any time to give instruction to those who may need it.
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Father God, I thank You for placing people in my life that I can learn from, and I ask that You would enable me to guide those who may be watching me into a closer walk with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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Yes, You Can Ministry 