Sitting in Silence | 1 Samuel 3 | Crossroads Daily

is the feeling like I have to have five hours of sequestered silent time to connect with God. That's a huge, I mean, I think about the amount of times where I've read in a book I really enjoy and I just invite God to read it with me. Or I'm doing the dishes and I'm talking to him. Or like, there's so many, God doesn't need five hours, five minutes, all he needs is your time, your attention and your presence. And you can offer that in any context. This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people. Just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. (upbeat music) - Hey, I'm Chuck. - I'm Jamie. - I'm Peter. - I'm Jordan. - And we are in first Samuel chapter three. I remember, this is one of the early passages I remember my mom teaching me. Talking about how Samuel heard from God. And I remember as an innocent little boy kind of going off in my room and saying, you know, speak Lord for your service. It was a meaningful thing. And I think that was powerful. So I would venture to say that the four of us have probably in some way heard from God.

It may not be like Samuel, an audible voice, but I think it'd be helpful just to again, demystify. When have you heard from God? What does that look like when you have heard from God? And what did you do with what you heard? - The first thing that comes to mind for me is being a teenager and being at a camp that I was invited to where I heard the message about Jesus. - Yeah. - And I was 16, summer camp, sitting in the back of the room. And I couldn't tell you exactly what the message was on or the preacher was talking about or anything. I just remember so clearly being in the back of the room feeling like God is talking to me through this person. - Wow. - And the challenges he's talking about, I got those challenges, the things I want in my life, or the things, yeah, he's talking about those things. And it felt so personalized. We're like hundreds of people in this room. And it's like, how did he know, all of that stuff? And then I realized like, oh, because God knows me. And it was like really the first time in my life where I felt like the Bible, as someone was delivering it, felt deeply personable and applicable to me. And I remember that day saying like, I want to follow Jesus. I don't know all the things that this means, but I just want, I want in on that. - Man, I love that.

And I would venture to say, first of all, that's just a great story. Like I love that, just the practicality of that. And I would venture to say that from that moment of saying, I want that, not sure what all that is, God's been filling in those blanks. - Totally. - Yeah, it's not all over time, you know? No, I love that. That's a great story here from God. How about you guys? What comes among me thinking, and it can be recent. Like when did you hear from God most recently? Or, yeah, what's the time that stands out? - Yeah, most recently, actually, is when I was, I was working on some stuff for the podcast. I was reading a little bit ahead in first Samuel, reading the story of Saul, and God very clearly, there's this line, I don't have a therefore yet. I'm still working through one of the therefore, but he had this line where he gave me, he told me my outputs out pacing my depth. - Ooh. - That's the line he gave me. And in the season, it resonated so deeply. And he said it in a loving way. It is a humbling thing, it is a hard thing to hear, but in a loving way. In a season where I am feeling more burned out where there's a lot of grief, there's a lot of stuff,

stuff going on, I think I shared recently on an episode of this that my grandpa was sick. Well, he actually passed away very recently, yeah. So, it's been, in one of those seasons where God's like, "Hey, I have more for you, I wanna fill you up." - Yeah. - But you're still running on your own engine, you know? And in a way, and so I have to work through, okay, what does that practically mean? But that's like a really recent like in the past week example. (laughs) - Yeah, it's real tender too, thank you for just sharing that tenderly. And I think it's super instructive because I think we want to always hear God saying, "You're awesome, you're great." And, but because he loves us, he will correct, but it always is with, like you said, it's gentle. - Yeah. - It can be clear, it can be firm. It doesn't mean that it's easy to hear, but there's a gentleness and a, "Hey, I'm for you." And how I communicate this. That's really instructive just as we think about the ways that God is correcting us, right? - Mm-hmm. - Absolutely. - That's good, and which is also hearing from God. - And it would be unloving from to let me keep going. - Exactly. - That the action is going.

- Exactly. - It's actually, that's him loving me. - Yeah. - It's like, "Hey, I don't wanna see you keep floundering like this." - That's right. Which interesting, just yesterday, in the app, when we were talking, we were talking about Eli and his worthless sons. - Yeah. - And it was you that was kind of lamenting like, "Man, I think Eli knew that his sons were going astray, but he didn't act. He was passive. He abdicated. - Mm-hmm. - And today, just that reflection of like, God loves us enough not to abdicate, right? to step into our era and say, "Whoa, whoa, I love you enough." To tell you-- - That's good. - He'd slow down, or whatever it is. That's really helpful, man. That's really helpful. So let me ask you this. What are some tactics that help you hear from God? And I don't know, it feels weird to use the word tactics, right? (laughing) What are some tricks or-- - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- But you know what I mean, like, some practices. I mean, I'll tell you one for me. I really hear God through the Bible when I read. - Mm-hmm. - And the thing that I am now even coming back to is I like to read for a volume when I read the Bible. (laughing) It's like me, let me knock out a couple-- Whatever it is. And what God continues to invite me into is no, I actually want you to slowly chew on my word. So recently, God has been taking me back and back and back to John 15, very familiar passage. Jesus talks about abiding. And I just am slowly, piece by piece, taking in those words. One verse at a time. That might be all I've reflected on, or if I'm having my quiet time, I might just reflect on one verse. Journal about it. That also helps me, like, if I read the verse and then journal about it, that helps me kind of just sit with God and God's using that to speak to me. So that's something that helps me. He's kind of slowing down and journaling. - Yeah. - I, for me, one of the things, I think it starts in prayer

and just asking to like hear from him. Or just like even like the trying to get out of like, God do this for me, prayers. And more of a, hey, I know you know I'm going through this. Like, what do you have for me? Or what are you saying? And then putting myself in spaces that aren't like my comfort zone. So I can take note. Like when I'm just like in my cozy home and doing the things that are normal, it's hard for anything to break in. I'm ignoring most things. But on my walks, I've been walking every day for like six weeks now. And so I try to do it outside for the purpose of being out with God. And this morning I was out at like, like I just like snooze a little extra longer and I got to see a beautiful sunrise. And I was like, okay, God, this was probably also my percentage being like, you need a little more sleep. And I got to experience him and hear from him of like, I'm here with you in this. And so I just think shaking things up and inviting him in. - I love that. And you know, science actually reinforces what you did in walking. When we do things that are bilateral,

it allows our brain to access deeper insights and memory. So isn't it? - Yeah, no, I knew that, yeah. - And it just was interesting though that like from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, it says that Adam and Eve walked with God. Like, I just love that that's a scientific as much as a spiritual kind of principle playing out. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Well, I think all of us have probably hit roadblocks too and hearing from God. So what are some of the distractions that we just need to name because they're real? - Yeah, I just think about like an average day in my life. And it is just chaotic and it's noisy. And I am constantly noticing that I even fill the gaps when in my life's quiet with noise. Because I, silence is like intimidating and almost scary. And so, I mean, from the moment I wake up, it's like, kids are talking, the TV's on, I get in the car and I go to work, they're on a podcast, I work, I'm in meetings, I'm talking to people all day long, hit the gym, put some music on, like it's just all the time noise. And so I am just constantly battling myself in filling areas where I could have silence and maybe be more open and attentive to the voice of God with just more noise because I'm actually more comfortable with noise

constantly in the background of my life than I am just with sitting in silence for a minute. Because I think when I sit in silence, when we sit in silence, there are thoughts or things that kind of bubble up and a lot of times I don't want to deal with that stuff. You know, I'm kind of like way easier just to put the TV out in the background and not deal with it. That's so good, that's so true, so true. The noise keeps us, whatever distractions come to mind, maybe one or two more. - I mean, a big obstacle for me actually is the feeling like I have to have five hours of sequestered silent time to connect with God. That's a huge, I mean, I think about the amount of times where I've written a book I really enjoy and I just invite God to read it with me. Or I'm doing the dishes and I'm talking to him. Or like, there's so many, God doesn't need five hours, five minutes, all he needs is your time, your attention and your presence. And you can offer that in any context. - That's awesome, man. - So that's my biggest revelation, so to speak. If I was raised in an environment where it's like, oh, unless you're intentionally reading the Bible or in a time of prayer. which by the way are all amazing things. It doesn't have to be. God is more powerful than that,

and we don't have to put him in a box. - That's good. - He doesn't need to be sequestered. I love that. That's super good. Well, today, I think all of us, hopefully you've heard from God. I think if it's something that you heard said or something that you read today, resonate it, and you're thinking things like, man, I need to reread that. Or I didn't think about how I take that as the word of God. And I love Samuel's simple response. He just simply says, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." I believe if you bring that to God in prayer, whatever that thing you just say to speak, I'm listening. I want more. God will meet you right where you are. I'm gonna leave you with one other thought. I love these words that are said for Samuel in verse 19. It says, "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground." What a powerful life. Samuel was able to live because he started from a posture of listening, and that same powerful life is available for you and for me. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]