The “Not Yet” Moment

Read

1 Samuel 3:1-21

¹And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

² And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

³ And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

⁴ That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

⁵ And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

⁶ And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

⁹ Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

¹² In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

¹³ For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

¹⁵ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

¹⁷ And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

¹⁸ And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰ And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹ And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

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Reflect

 Samuel was raised in a church, but he didn’t know God. Since a young child, he’d been taught the scriptures. He’d participated in the rituals. He’d heard his share of sermons, and he’d said his “amens”. For all intents and purposes, when it came to religion, Samuel crossed his T’s and dotted his I’s. But, there was a problem. We see this problem revealed to us in verse 7. I want to call it Samuel’s “not yet” moment. It is here that we see that Samuel isn’t all that he looks to be outwardly.

If a local was to stop by the temple to pray, or to offer an offering, and you were to ask them about Samuel, they’d probably tell you what a delightful, young, godly man he was. They’d speak of his exemplary church attendance, his impeccable volunteer record, and in a hushed whisper they may even mention that his mother gave him up to the temple when he was a baby. The Bible tells us in verse 1 that Samuel ministered. He was very involved in the day-to-day of the Lord’s house, and this was no doubt well-known in the community. But Samuel didn’t truly know the Lord.

Many people today are living the “not yet” moment. They do not yet know the Lord. Some of these people do so by choice. Does the following sound familiar?

“God I want to serve you, but not yet. “God I want to live for you, but not yet. There are these other opportunities in my life I want to explore. There’s other things I want to do, that maybe You wouldn’t like. So I want to go ahead and get that out of my system before I begin serving you. I want to sow my wild oats”.

-what many people say

This all comes from a place of self-reliance and pride. Man wants to act on his human nature. Sometimes that manifests itself outwardly in the form of rebellious actions, but other times this tendency towards the flesh shines through rebellious attitudes. When it comes to the war for our souls, we are either for God or in rebellion against Him. Once you understand the plight of sin, there is no middle ground on which to stand. Samuel 3 shows Samuel reaching this point of recognition, and moving past his “not yet” moment into a life of wholehearted service to the Lord.

Remember

Keep in mind that there are some, like Samuel at the beginning of this chapter, who simply don’t know the Lord yet. Perhaps they are young children who are still learning, or there’s a people group that has yet to be reached. Let’s read 2 Peter 3:9…

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

The Bible says that God will make himself known to everyone, for he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The time simply hasn’t come for some people yet. Remember that everyone will be given an opportunity to accept Christ before they die, but there will be some who refuse the lifeline of their own volition.

Notice that verse 1 says Samuel ministered before the Lord, but verse 7 tells us that he didn’t yet know the Lord. Why is this an important distinction? Many people can do ministry without knowing God. We can participate in food drives, sing in the choir, drive the church bus to youth camp, etc. but it is all for naught if your heart isn’t doing it to serve Christ. Think about Samuel. Just because the pastor is your father figure and the church is your home doesn’t mean that you know God. Samuel knew plenty about the religious side of God from helping Eli in the temple, but the relationship with God wasn’t personal yet. Notice how God said “Samuel Samuel”. Check out the similarities with Acts 9:4.

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Acts 9:4

Just like how the Lord said “Saul Saul” in Acts 9:4, He was trying to get Samuel’s attention. Why? Because he was going to do something great in Samuel’s life. The same is true for you and me today. The Lord is calling each of us. It is our job to respond and obey without fear of man.

In verse 18, Samuel told Eli what God had told him. It wasn’t easy. It was the hard truth. Sometimes God’s man has to tell the hard truth, but God will always supply the strength. Verse 19 says the Lord didn’t let Samuel’s words hit the ground. Aka, they hit the mark. They accomplished their purpose, and the same is true for words spoken in the power of God today. Samuel grew in the Lord and grew physically.

He moved past his “not yet” moment into a life of service to the Lord. We see in verse 20 that, as he continued to obey the Lord, people saw that he was to be a prophet. When God calls you, follow him. If you know that you’re holding back today, and choosing to live a Christian life that can be summed up as “not yet Lord”, then it’s time to change. The middle of the road isn’t a good place to sit, walk, or drive. Learn to rely on God’s strength. He will bring His will to pass in your life, but only when you fully commit to living your life for Him.