If and when hearing God

A few weeks ago, I wrote about hearing God. It was mostly about how I may discern whether it is indeed God who is speaking to me. But suppose He actually speaks to me and I hear Him. How should I respond to that? How should I react to that?

One night, as the boy Samuel was lying down in the temple of God, God called him (I Samuel 3). Samuel did not initially recognize that it was God calling him. After Eli recognized what was happening, he told the boy that if God calls him again, he should say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." And indeed that is how Samuel responded the next time God called him.

If God speaks to me, then what else is there to do, besides listening to Him as His servant? Listening to Him as His servant means that I am ready to spring to action of obedience -- to do whatever the Master tells me to do.

When Jesus called on Peter, Peter had been fishing all night long without catching any fish (Luke 5). Jesus then told Peter to go to the deep end and let down the nets. Peter responded, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." The important phrase here is, I think, "because you say so." Jesus is the master and whatever He tells me to do, whether it makes sense to me or not, I must obey and do.

In my prayer last night, I recalled a prayer I had as a junior high school boy. I said something like, "I offer myself. Receive and use me." In my prayer last night, I said, "Lord, tell me what to do and I will do it." The moment I said this, I felt as if the Lord said to me, "정말 그렇게 할래? (Really? Is that what you will do)?". I got scared at the enormity of implications and I hesitated. I knew that once I spoke a commitment ("Lord, tell me what to do and I will do it."), I could not retract it. I asked the Lord that if He is speaking to me, He would speak to me clearly; I could not be satisfied with a vague feeling that He might have spoken to me. I wanted a confirmation. Asking for confirmation was, however, a hedge on my part, probably because I was not ready to fully obey. I was not ready to go to the deep end and be immersed in the grace of the Holy Spirit.

I need to be able to say what the boy Samuel said, "Speak, your servant is listening." I need to be able to say what Simon Peter said, "But because you say so, I will." Lord, speak to me clearly and in no uncertain terms and help me obey You. Amen.