Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening

It has been quite some time since I made my last blog post.  I could list all kinds of excuses as to why I have not been writing, but they would not make a difference.  I simply just did not want to write, even though I felt a call to do so.  Then, I read the readings for this Sunday, and I knew that it was time to begin again.

Sunday’s readings will be familiar to most people.  The Gospel is a passage that is often quoted, discussed, and read throughout the year.  We hear Jesus clearly exhorting the importance of following Him and placing His will ahead of our own desires.  It is a passage we all know but rarely live up to (or at least I don’t).  We know that God has a plan for each of us and continually calls us to follow the path he has charted for us.  However, actually following that path is not always easy or something we want to do in the moment.

In the first reading, we hear the Lord telling Elijah who to call as his successor.  The Lord tells Elijah to “anoint Elisha … as a prophet to succeed you” (1 Kings 19: 16).  Here, the call is very clear and succinct.  The Lord is speaking directly to Elijah and giving him very clear instructions.  Elijah is then able to go directly to Elisha and communicate the Lord’s desire.  Elisha hears the Lord’s call through the words of the prophet Elijah and quickly follows him.  Would it not be much easier if you and I heard the Lord’s call in our lives so clearly?

Often times, the path God has chosen for us is communicated that easily, but we choose not to listen.  We often choose to follow our own personal desires, usually to our detriment.  St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that “for freedom Christ set us free” (5:1).  Through this freedom, we are given the ability to choose.  We get to actually choose what path to follow: the one God has set for us or the one we set for ourselves.  In his same letter, St. Paul warns us to “… not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (5:13).  If we are honest with ourselves, we most often do use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, and we ignore the various ways God calls us.

When we are ignoring God’s plan for our life, we are usually our least happy.  The Psalms beautifully remind us that the Lord God “… will show me the path to life, fullness of joy in your presence” (16:11).  Only through following God’s perfect plan for our lives and following Him without hesitation will we find that true and everlasting happiness.  The happiness for which our entire beings yearn and constantly search.  We so often get lost in our search for happiness and fall into the desires of the flesh that St. Paul warns us about.  Maybe you are searching for inner peace and joy, but you keep looking for it in getting the most likes on Instagram or through excessive use of alcohol or with pornography and other sexual pleasures.  You keep searching and searching, but nothing truly fills that longing for joy and happiness deep within you.

To find that true joy, peace, and happiness, we must first stop and truly listen to the Lord’s call.  He often times uses those around us to communicate His desires just as he used Elijah to call Elisha.  We must come to the Lord in prayer and welcome His call with the words of the Prophet Samuel, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9).  By discarding our own personal desires and truly listening to the Lord’s call, we will hear Him call us down a path that will bring us true and everlasting peace and joy.

Do not forget that we will not be walking this path alone!  Rather, Jesus Christ has already walked it and is calling us to follow Him (cf Luke 9:59).  Jesus lays out the path for each of us and accompanies us on this journey to everlasting life and joy.  Jesus calls us to follow Him first and foremost.  His call is one that demands our full attention and gives us the most perfect reward: eternal life and happiness.

The Lord is calling each of us to follow Him on a unique path.  The Lord is calling each of us with different methods.  But the Lord is calling each of us.  I invite each of you to join your prayer with that of Samuel.  Spend some time quieting your heart, so you may hear the Lord’s call and follow Him to perfect peace and joy.  When you hear His call or His tug on your heart, do not run and search for His joy in your own desires.  When you hear His voice, stop and pray, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!”