Have you ever felt God was talking to you? Maybe you didn't hear an audible voice, but you were convinced that God was leading you to (or away from) something. I've even heard people say they felt a literal "push" that they believed was God somehow moving them away from something that was a bad situation. When we hear people talk about instances like this, we may try to explain them away or dismiss the person as "out there." But I think God does still "talk" to us. I'm just not sure we are listening.
This is a story of a boy who heard God calling him. But he didn't realize what was happening until an older, wiser person helped him understand. Once Samuel got some help from Eli, he responded to God's calling in a way that teaches us. Sunday we will revisit the story of Eli and Samuel and see what we can learn from it.