God Trumping Sam's Fears

# 55 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" And he answered, "Here I am." 17 And he said, "What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you." (1 Sam 3:16,17) God had appeared to Daniel in the night and told him the judgment that would come upon the house of Eli. Eli, knew something was up between God and Samuel, because Samuel had woken Eli up twice during the night mistaking Eli's voice for the Lord's. So Eli, quite naturally asks Samuel what God had spoken to him. You and I would do the same thing. What's interesting is that Eli senses that he was the subject of the conversation, AND that the conversation had something to do with judgment against Eli and his family. How did he pick up on that? Maybe he sensed the fear in Samuel that we read about in v15. Maybe he knew it was time for he and his sons to be taken to the woodshed for their willful sins. Ultimately though, I believe that it was God who caused Eli to pursue the matter. And it wasn't for Eli's sake, but rather for Samuel's sake. It was God forcing Samuel to deal with his fear. I have a note in one of my study Bibles by this verse that reads, “God trumping Sam's fears.” I have no idea when I made that note, but I know why I made it. I made it because in spite of Samuel's fears, God forced the issue. Samuel probably would've been content to go about his temple business and not bring the matter up, but Eli forces his hand with his questions and his oath. Sometimes we are paralyzed by fear. Take heart from this passage. If the matter is important to God, He will keep putting us in a place where we have to face our fears, and with a ready heart and His help they can be overcome.