Voice in the Dark

"The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'"¹

"One summer night a young man who lived in Scotland decided to take a shortcut across the moors on his walk into town where he worked.

"The countryside was known for its limestone quarries. He knew he would be passing near one of these quarries, but thought he could avoid it. The night was pitch black without a star in sight, but the young man set out through the rock and heather anyway.

"Suddenly he heard a voice call out with great urgency, 'Peter!'

"He was unnerved but stopped and called back into the darkness, 'Yes, who is it? What do you want?' There was no response—just a gentle breeze over the deserted moorland.

"He decided that he'd been mistaken and walked on a few more steps. Then he heard the voice again, this time even more urgent than the first: 'Peter!'

"He stopped dead in his tracks, bent forward to peer through the darkness, and stumbled to his knees. He reached out a hand to the ground before him, but only clutched thin air. It was the quarry! Sure enough, as Peter carefully felt around in a semicircle he found that he had stopped on the edge of the abandoned limestone quarry one short step before a fatal plunge into the abyss. Out there in the desolate moor someone knew him and someone cared about him.

"Peter Marshall never forgot that incident. Dedicating his life to the one who'd called him by name, he went on to become one of America's greatest ministers.²

Did you ever stop to realize that God also knows you by name—and everything else about you. Have you ever "heard" him calling you? If you learn to listen with your heart, you will hear what he wants of you.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me always to be sensitive to your call. Please give me an attentive mind and a listening heart as well as a willing spirit to always heed your bidding and obey your word. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Samuel 3:10 (NIV).
2. Steven R. Mosley, Glimpses of God, (Sisters, Oregon: Questar Publishers, Inc., 1990), pp. 149-150. Cited on www.sermons.com

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Daily Encounter by
Richard (Dick) Innes of ACTS International