WHO HAS BEEN WITH GOD?!

I hear a call from heaven. A simple yet clear charge coming from a Father who is searching. He is looking for those with the heart of Samuel – those who love His presence and will take the time to simply be with Him. Those who want to know Him – not just get a word from Him.

At a time when so many of us are looking for answers about who to trust, who to listen to, and what to believe, I sense the Father calling us back to the secret place. It is only when we have been with Him that things begin to make sense. Those who truly know Him will carry more than His words or message. They will carry something of His heart – a heart that burns with holiness and purity. Those who have been with God will bear the unmistakable marks of His presence and restore the fear of the Lord.

From the beginning, God’s desire has been relationship with His sons and daughters. In the garden, He communed freely with Adam and Eve. But when they reached for the knowledge of good and evil apart from trusting Him, intimacy was broken. In the generations that followed, God continually called His people back to Himself. Even when He raised up prophets to speak His word, His ultimate desire was never merely to give His people information through someone else. He wanted a people who would know Him, walk with Him, and recognize His voice for themselves.

Samuel came on the scene at a time when God’s house was in serious transition. Eli’s sons had corrupted their priestly calling through sin and compromise, and “the word of the Lord was rare in those days” (1 Samuel 3:1). The structures of worship remained, but the fear of the Lord had diminished. God’s presence had been taken for granted and few seemed positioned to listen – to hear – to truly know their God. Until Samuel.

Here was one drawn by a purity of heart to be with his God. In his innocence, he remained unmoved and untainted by much of the compromise around him. Because of the prayers and intercession that had brought him to this place, Samuel had literally been born for the presence of God. He tended to the things of the Lord out of desire, not merely duty. And God took notice.

God called, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel responded, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” (1 Samuel 3:10)  And something shifted.

Through Samuel, God exposed the corruption in His house and confronted those who had tolerated it. But He was doing something even greater. He was restoring His voice among His people.

“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.… And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3:19, 21)

The Lord appeared again. Samuel had been with God, and the weight of that relationship eventually became evident to everyone around him. Even as the storyline continued, the ark of God’s presence traveled throughout the land, demonstrating again and again that God alone was the source of power, life, and holiness (1 Samuel 5–6). His presence could not be manipulated, managed, or treated casually.

God still wants to speak. But He is looking for those who speak from relationship and not merely revelation – those whose words are marked by His presence and carry weight. Those whose convictions come not merely from knowing the letter of the law, but from communing with the One who wrote it. Thus, our concerns should not just surround a message or claimed gifting, but asking – who has been with their God?

Who has taken the time to tend the altar? Who has been seeking His face away from the crowds and the throngs of influencers? Who has learned to stand before Him when no one is watching? Who carries that which cannot be produced through gifting, intellect, personality, or platform? There is a purity, a sobriety, and a fear of the Lord that quietly testifies: This person has been with God.

For those who have been quietly seeking Him, praying when no one sees, waiting when there seems to be no reward, and tending the altar without recognition – do not underestimate the value of the hidden place. Heaven measures things differently than we do. Samuel was hidden long before he was heard.

I believe this is what the Church desperately needs. Not simply more words, revelations, messages, or information, but a people who intimately know the One who speaks. If we want to hear Him clearly, we must start in His presence. If we want to understand His purposes, we must first know His heart. Both personally and collectively, we must return to the hidden place where we rediscover our First Love – not because of what His presence might produce in us, but because He Himself is the treasure.