Adjustment Needed - 1 Samuel 3

Every so often I get these intense pains in my upper back and neck, the site of an old soccer injury. When this pain flairs up I usually start to feel a little more tired and lethargic and I know it's time to go see my chiropractor, Dr. Logan.

Dr. Logan has me lay down, does some of his top-secret chiropractic measuring and pronounces the verdict.

"The usual....we need to adjust your C1 & C2"

He works his adjustment magic on me and I'm ready to go. It really is amazing.

Dr. Logan has explained to me that the C1 is the first vertebra at the base of my skull. It is also the first conduit for all the nerves that come out of my brain headed for my body. That little piece of trivia is important because my nervous system is how my brain communicates with my body. When the C1 vertebra is improperly aligned it can cut off the flow of information from my brain to my body and create all kinds of problems. This explains why some of you have walked away from a conversation with me and thought, “What is wrong with him?!” You’ve caught me on a day when my C1 was literally cutting off nerve communication to my brain.

Our spiritual journey has some similarities to my spinal issues in that a small misalignment can, over time, eventually lead to complete disfunction. From my chair I get to witness a lot of disfunction in this complicated and beautiful thing we call the church. As a result, I often find myself pondering the spiritual misalignments that led to those disfunctions. Recently, I have been reading and studying in the Old Testament and last week I wandered into the book of 1 Samuel and rediscovered that misalignments (that lead to disfunction) have been around for a very long time.

Misalignment 1 - Expectation

1 Samuel 3

1The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

What an interesting commentary! In those days the word of the Lord was rare, and God did not break through into the realm of men and women. In the original language the term for “vision” alludes to a moment when God “breaks through” and engages people in a supernatural way. Samuel lived in a time when it was perceived that God was not active and present and as a result he did not expect to hear from God. Many today would say that God is similarly quiet.

You may share Samuel's perspective of God.......distant, unavailable, quiet.

It's instructive to me that Samuel was working in the temple but had never met God....nor did he expect to. Is it possible to work in a church or attend one regularly and not really expect God to show up?

We have nothing to offer a broken world if God is not supernaturally present with us. While Samuel lived in an age when God was only occasionally present in tangible ways, we live in a different age. Matthew 27:51 tells us that the moment Jesus died the curtain of the temple was torn in two.....Jesus broke through for the final time....this time to stay.

You and I live in the age of Emmanuel ......the God who has drawn near.

But sometimes our perspective gets in the way.

We don't expect God to show up.

Misalignment 2 - Intimacy

7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Interesting placement! Here he is surrounded by religious people and religious duties.....God has just spoken to him twice and it says, "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord."

It seems that Samuel missed the call of God the first two times not because it wasn't there or he was in the wrong environment but simply because he had no expectation that God would speak resulting in his inability to recognize the Voice of God.

Samuel's problem was a misaligned perspective about intimacy......God did not speak very often and would probably not bother to talk with him.

It makes me wonder if today we can be in a religious environment and have God speaking to us and still miss it.

Misalignment 3 - Attention

Dr. Logan tells me that misalignment in the top vertebra has a cascading effect on the rest of the body. So, too, misalignment in our perspectives of God has a cascading effect. Misaligned expectations and misaligned intimacy often lead us to a final spiritual misalignment.

2One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.
3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Not expecting to hear from God.....with no understanding of God's desire for intimacy with him......Samuel turned his attention to another person.

A very natural response really.

When our inward expectation is that God only "breaks through" once in long while and we have no intimacy with him on which to base our perspectives we are left with the latest book, Bible Study, Video Series, Sermon, YouTube Video, or Church Program.

In all fairness this isn't all bad......Eli is the one that led Samuel back to God.......but if we habitually fill our intimacy void with the latest craze the end result is not good because it leads us away from the source of life.

The great calling of our lives is to walk intimately with God.

The great challenge of our lives is to hear, identify and obey His voice. 

What would have happened if Samuel had missed God's call to him?

What will the cost be if you and I miss what God is calling us to?

On the Journey with you,
Dan

Dan Scarrow

District Superintendent