Shut Your Mouth, Kitty Cat, I’m Trying To Talk

When my youngest grandson was around three or four years old, he said something that the entire family still laughs about. It was one of those rare moments when all my children and grandchildren were all under one roof. As you can imagine, with a house full of people, it can get very loud. Everyone is always talking at once, and they keep getting louder so they can be heard.

My grandson was sitting in his mom’s lap and watching everyone talking and laughing. They were all out by the pool, and one of their cats walked over to sit in the shade of the chair. The cat started meowing, trying to get someone to pet it. Since everyone was talking, they didn’t pay any attention to the cat. The cat kept meowing and refused to give up on getting some attention. Little man decided to join the conversation, but the cat must have been bothering him. All at once, my grandson belted out, “Shut your mouth, Kitty Cat, I’m trying to talk!”

Anytime all my kids are together, you can bet someone is going to say this at least once or twice during the trip. If I’m honest, there have been times when I would have liked to have said it to people who keep yapping while I’m trying to watch TV, work, or listen to someone speaking. There have also been times when someone would like to say it to ME.

You have probably read the story of Samuel. His mother had begged the Lord for a child for years. In desperation, she promised the Lord that if He gave her a child, she would dedicate it to the Lord’s work. The Lord answered her prayers and gave her a son named Samuel, which means “heard by God.”

Samuel’s mother kept her promise to the Lord and took Samuel to Eli, the priest of Shiloh. Eli took in Samuel and trained him to serve the Lord.

As Samuel grew, he served in the house of the Lord under the guidance of Eli the priest. One night, as Samuel lay down to sleep, he heard a voice calling his name. Samuel thought it was Eli, so he went to him and asked him what he needed.

This happened three times before Eli figured out that it was the Lord calling Samuel. He told Samuel to go back to bed and, if he heard the voice again, to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:7-11

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.

All of our lives are filled with noise and distractions, and it’s easy to miss the voice or the whispers of God. I have longed to “hear” the Lord speak to me verbally, but that has never happened. Instead, His voice comes as a prompting, a feeling, a phrase I hear repeatedly, or something as silly as watching TV.

While I’m so caught up in my everyday life, I can easily overlook the Lord talking to me. I might pray to have him speak, but do I ever hush up long enough for Him to be heard?

When I pray at night, I have a request that I often put in my prayers. It is for the Lord to open my ears, my eyes, and my heart so that I can recognize the Lord’s “voice,” even if it isn’t spoken verbally. So, like Samuel, I’m asking, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” I just hope He’s not saying, “Shut your mouth, Kitty Cat, I’m trying to talk.”

To GOD Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!