“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” 1 Samuel 3:1 ESV There are a few interesting facts about Samuel. First, he was a miracle baby. His mother, Hannah, was barren and wanted desperately to have children of her own. God heard all of her fervent prayers, and along came Samuel. She immediately dedicated him back to the Lord once he was weaned, and he began serving the chief priest in the tabernacle. During those days, the word of the Lord was scarce, and so Samuel had no real experience with God for himself yet. I imagine Samuel’s life could have gone one of two ways. One, he could have begrudgingly served and spent his days complaining. He could have allowed himself to become frustrated with what seemed to be mundane tasks. Or, as we see in the Bible, he could have faithfully and wholeheartedly served—which is what happened —and led to him hearing God’s voice for himself. Reading through the life of Samuel, we see that he was the one who anointed the first two kings of Israel, he is…

“So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.”  I Samuel 30:9 David had gone with the Philistine army to fight against Israel, but the Lord had intervened, and King Achish sent him back home. What a tragic scene met their eyes. The city of Ziklag had been burned with fire, and their families had been taken captive. The people blamed David and were threatening to stone him. David was distressed, but his faith in God prevailed. “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” He called for the priest and enquired of the Lord as to how to proceed. The answer he received was to pursue them, and a promise was given that he would recover all. He and his men set out. Some of them were very tired, so David left them in the Valley of Besor to rest and recover. Rest is important to all of us. The Lord modeled this when He created the earth. He set apart the seventh day as a day of rest. Often, we can become so busy with our daily duties that we forget…

“And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.”  Deuteronomy 1:25 In the first chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses is reiterating the events that happened earlier when they were preparing to enter the Promised Land. Twelve men were sent to spy out the land of Canaan. No doubt they were excited and eager as they surveyed the country. They all saw the good things about the land. There was plenty of pasture and lots of water for their flocks. Fruit abounded, as evidenced by the bunch of grapes they carried back with them. But as they returned to the camp and gave an account of what they had seen, there was disagreement among them. Two of them, Joshua, and Caleb, spoke in faith and insisted that there would be no problem for them to take the country. The other ten revealed their fear. They were concerned about the giants they had seen in the land. Numbers 13:33 “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”  Because of their…

“And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.”  Isaiah 65:10 Several years ago, I was privileged to attend the General Conference in Toronto. After the night service, our group would travel on the Subway from the Conference Centre to our Hotel. One night, the subway car door closed after the rest got out, leaving me alone. Having ridden on the subway before, I knew enough to get off at the next station, cross over, and take the next train back to one station. There is a Japanese legend that says, “If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station. The longer it takes you to get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.” When I read this, I thought of the story recorded in Joshua. Israel had finally reached the Promised Land, and it was time to start claiming it for their own. God gave Joshua specific instructions to follow as they prepared to attack the city of Jericho. They were to destroy the city and not take anything for themselves. Joshua 6:19…