A couple of days ago, I wrote a few thoughts on 1 Samuel 2:26 and Luke 2:52 about growing in stature and favor with both God and man. As I was reading chapter 3 of 1 Samuel, I was struck by Samuel's learning curve and sensitivty to God's voice over the course of the chapter. The chapter begins by noting that as Samuel ministered before the the Lord as a boy, "the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." By the end of the chapter we read, "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word" (verses 19, 20, 21, NIV).
The more time we spend in secret with God, the more others recognize God in us.
In my reading of The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, I am in awe of his daily "secret times" with God. His impact on Johnathan Edwards and others was a direct result of his daily time in the presence of his holy God. Brainerd never had intended that his personal journals be saved. However, Edwards and others were able to convince him in the final days of his life to entrust them to the care of Edwards. After his death, Edwards had much of the journals published in order that we might get a glimpse of a man, his struggles, and his overcoming faith. It is no wonder that in a short span of four years, Brainerd was able to accomplish so much as a missionary to the native Americans before his death at the age of twenty-eight.
Enlarge upon your secret times with God.
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