Calling over Culture

Intro

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Recap from Chapters 1-3

Hannah, Samuel’s mother, was barren and could not have a child.

She prayed for a child and the Lord answered her prayers.

She named the child Samuel, which means “asked of God” in Hebrew.

Chapter 2 is Hannah praising God for her answered prayer and Samuel being commited to the temple to become a priest.

Eli and his sons are Judged by a prophet saying that God would end the priesthood of Eli’s family.

Through all of that, Samuel was consistently known to have favor in the eyes of God.

CULTURE CAN NOT CHANGE WHAT GOD HAS CHOSEN

1 Samuel 3:11-

1 Samuel 3:11–20 HCSB

The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder. On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are defiling the sanctuary, and he has not stopped them. Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel. “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that He told you.” So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good.” Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord.

If you are going choose your calling over culture, you have to do 3 things:

1. Listen (v.11-14)

I have several gifts that God has given me, but listening is not one of them. I don’t sit still very well, which inevitably leads to me missing part of a conversation. One time specifically, I was working one summer doing landscaping. One thing that this particular company did was build retaining walls. Well one day my boss left me a the job site while he left to run some errands.

Well he told me to move this pile of gravel from one place to another, which I wasn’t listening to. So fast forward to the end of the day and 500 wheel barrel trips later. He came back only to find that I had not moved the gravel to the correct spot.

2. Lean In (v.15-18)

It is important to listen so that we can learn what we do not know.

Samuel was around 12 years old at this point when God came to him in the temple. He was a student of the Word and of the priesthood. But he didn’t know God yet.

This is the first interaction between the young boy and the one that created him.

Notice the time and the position that Samuel was in when he heard from God. It was early in the morning, and he was quiet and still.

Some of you feel so disconnected from God and you can’t figure out why. It is because you can’t remember the last time you spent quality time with Him and His word.

Matthew 6:6 HCSB

But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

There is a difference between quality and quantity

When you get the QUALITY, the QUANTITY becomes habit.

Speaking of habits, we have to get in the habit of listening for the voice of God over the noise of our culture. Why is that hard for most of us? Because we have tuned our ears and hearts to hear everything that culture screams at us. Culture is loud about what we should do and what we look like, but if we know Jesus, there is a small voice that we can barely make out even in the loudest places of our lives. A lot of times, it sounds like a whisper that is begging to be heard. That whisper is the Holy Spirit inside of us.

Culture has to be big and loud to get our attention. God can whisper to us because he is always near us.

Jeremiah 23:23 HCSB

“Am I a God who is only near” —this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away?

Samuel became the change in the culture Israel because he was able to Listen.

2. Lean In (v.15-18)

We see in verses 15-18 that Samuel leaned in to the difficult vision that he was given by the way that told Eli what God had told him.

Samuel loved Eli very much, he was a mentor and a father to the young by. But Samuel loved the Lord more.

That’s one thing that I want to point out to you about this whole relationship with God thing, it is not always easy, but it is always worth it.

Colossians 3:1–4 HCSB

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

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So let that be an inspiration to you to lean in to your calling. You are called to look different, to talk different, to act different, to be different.

WE WEREN’T MADE TO FIT IN, WE WERE MADE TO STAND OUT!

So lean in to spending time in the Bible.

Lean in to praying for the people that are around you and hurting.

Lean in to going against the grain.

3. Launch (v.19-20)

Samuel was not just another guy, he was the guy that would shift a culture. He would become the one of the greatest prophet priests of the Old Testament not because he processed any special skills, but because he was willing to shake things up.

Verse 19 tells us that God fulfilled EVERYTHING that Samuel prophesied.

I think back to the point when God called me in to ministry, so much became clear to me at that point in my life. So many feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, and unfulfillment disappeared from my life.

2 Timothy 2:15 HCSB

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

2 Timothy

The Lord established Samuel from Dan, the Northern most city in Israel, to Beer-sheba, the southern most city of Israel.

God wants to bring you in to you calling, but are you ready for it.