SURRENDERING TO GOD
by Ronnie Mutina
Samuel, a prophet, whom God used mightily, was an outstanding example of what a child of God should be now. If you look in the book of 1 Samuel, you will find the story of him getting called by the Lord in chapter 3, and how the High Priest, Eli, directed him toward the Lord when Samuel thought it was Eli calling. The books of 1st and 2nd Samuel are probably my favorite 2 books in the Old Testament. There are great things that happened in both of these books, which, to me show how God will use men, if they will just surrender or give in to HIM.
If you will read the scriptures in 1 Samuel, you will see the fact that his mother, Hannah, prayed hard for a man child and even promised the Lord that this child would be given unto HIM all the days of his life and no razor would come upon his head (1 Samuel 1:11). Hannah even went to Eli and talked with him, and soon she conceived and brought forth Samuel. We find in chapter 1 verses 23 – 28, that Hannah was true to her word and did give Samuel unto the Lord just as soon as he was weaned from her. She kept her word with the Lord.
Now there are great lessons we can learn throughout God’s Word, but other than salvation, there are none greater than the lesson we can learn in this passage. The Lord made a promise to Abraham, which is called, ‘a Covenant, and HE will never go back on His promises to us either about eternal life. Hannah had made a vow, or promise, to the Lord to dedicate this child unto Him and we see that she was true to her word. Therefore, God blessed her for keeping her promise to HIM. In chapter 2:1 – 10, we see that Hannah sang a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for what HE had done for her.
We know that the Bible strictly teaches to raise our children in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord," (Eph. 6:4). However, I want to look at chapter 3 a little closer. In chapter 3:1 –15, we see where the Lord called Samuel 4 times before he answered HIM. The first 3 times, he thought it was Eli, and Eli, being a priest, told him to answer, "Speak Lord, Thy servant heareth." The Lord then instructed Samuel in what HE was going to do to Eli’s house.
I want to focus upon the five most important words that Samuel said in this conversation with the Lord. "Speak Lord, Thy servant heareth." Samuel, according to verse 7, "did not yet know the Lord neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him." Yet when Samuel was obedient to what Eli told him to do, he met the Lord face to face. He prepared himself by answering the Lord.
The Lord speaks to us, a lot of times, as HIS servants, but instead of saying, thy servant heareth, we try to ignore it. Since I answered the call to preach I’ve had a peace about me that only made my salvation that much more greater in my life. I was saved on October 3, 1982, and became really involved in the small church I attended. I later became a youth leader and was allowed to preach at a rescue mission at times. I eventually felt the LORD tugging on my heart to answer the call to be a preacher, but as the world became more important to me, I lost focus on what was important and due to that fact, Satan was allowed a small crack to get into my home, and I ended up running for 14 years. After this, I come to the conclusion that God would never want to use me anymore, because I was defiled and nobody, including myself, thought I would be able to preach or pastor a church.
After all of this happened, I later felt the tugging of the Lord on my heart again. Fourteen years later, I told the Lord I will answer your calling and there was a peace that came into my heart again. I already had the peace of salvation, but I did not have total peace, because I was running from God. A preacher friend of mine asked me about a year after I gave in to the calling, "How long had you run from God, before you gave in?" When I answered him, he said, "I see a peace on your face that I haven’t seen before." Truth was, I was closer to the Lord than I had been in a long time.
This devotional is not about me, per say, but it is about answering God when HE calls your name. Answering HIM is not always easy for anyone to do, because it requires dedication on our part. However, we need to understand that answering the call to whatever God wants you to do brings a peace that nobody can explain. Samuel was used of God in a lot of situations. Samuel had to go tell his friend, Eli, that God was going to kill him and his family. He had to tell his friend, Saul, that God was going to take Saul’s leadership away from him, because Saul had disobeyed God, and he had the great opportunity of anointing King David, when he was a boy, as the next King of Israel. There were other things that Samuel did, but it was because he answered the call to the LORD.
Last night, I was given the precious opportunity to preach at the church I am a member of. Preaching at a church is not like pastoring a church. Pastoring a church is being in a position to feed, comfort, and direct the Lord’s church in the direction God wants it to go. It is a great responsibility to have, but the pastor must always be willing to listen to God. When I was a pastor, I could feel the anointing of God in my life and it was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had. I was in tune with God. When, we as church members, get in tune with God, he can use us too. When God gives us responsibility in any form of HIS work, we should not take it lightly. The Bible teaches us that we all have a responsibility, whether we are pastors, preachers, deacons, teachers, or just lay people. We are to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen…
I have never considered myself a good preacher. I’m just an old East Texas country boy, who has chopped up English, and I’ve never claimed to be dynamic in delivering HIS message. However, there is no greater feeling in the world than knowing you are allowing God to use you the way HE wants to.
Once a child of God has allowed God to us him and that child has seen God work through him, and do great things, that child of God will never be the same. For God to really be able to use us, the way HE wants to, we need to "be still and know that HE is God," as we are told in Psalm 46:10, and open our hearts to that "Still small voice," and say, "Speak Lord, Thy servant heareth." After HE instructs you on what you need to do, you, then, need to do it.
May we all, as children of God, be willing to give into the Lord in our service to HIM and for HIM. Thank you Lord for loving me, even though I don’t deserve it.
