One of the attributes of love as listed in 1 Corinthians 13 is patience. God is therefore patient with people because He is love. His Patience born out of love is the reason why God waits for us till we get it. Behind every voice of the Lord is the force of His love. Imagine this as He was trying to make Himself known to Samuel. Three times He called; and three times the boy ran in the wrong direction, to Eli. That leaves us with an impression. It takes some maturing to discern the voice of the Lord. Eli had to aid the boy’s understanding and teach him the necessary response should the voice sound again. God did call the fourth time; and now Samuel was ready for Him.

Note that God will not speak until you are ready for Him. God kept calling until Samuel was ready. That’s already a demonstration of love; for it is only love that is patient, bears all things and hopes all things. Not even when God is displeased with His people does He fail to speak in love. He may warn but still in love. Rarely will you see God resort to threat. This is an acid test for deciding the force behind the voice you hear.

With a little maturing, it gets easier to recognize the voice of the Lord. More specifically, getting rid of discordant voices all around will aid our understanding of His voice. Learn to deal with the voice of your flesh which always come from feelings. An un-renewed mind will speak through reason, but hardly will it align with the mind of God. They say practice makes perfect. Practice the art of listening and looking for God’s voice behind every scripture you read. It will get better with time.