1st Samuel 3:19

 It's always very memorable when I find out that God sent me a prompting to do something that turned out to be in answer to someone else's prayer. But it is absolutely unforgettable when I am the one on the receiving end: having my own prayers answered by other people who are faithful enough to both receive and follow heavenly promptings. One such experience happened very recently, but started almost exactly four years ago in 2018.

At the time my wife and I were living in New Haven, having just started my Ph.D. program in statistics & data science at Yale University. While working on the intense homework for a nonparametric estimation course I was in, I got a text from one of our local church friends asking if I would be able to teach the Sunday School lesson in church the upcoming Sunday. Of course, I gladly responded in the affirmative, it being completely out of my personality to say no to such an invitation. It turned out that the lesson for that week was on the Old Testament story of Samuel being called as a prophet and the circumstances surrounding that. And while there were many great insights I got from preparing and teac
hing that lesson, one scripture seemed to stick with me more than any other:

"And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground."             ~ 1 Samuel 3:19

The contrast between the self-serving nature of Eli's sons and the heaven-heeding nature of Samuel resonated with me in a way that penetrated my heart. And as I pondered upon Samuel's ability to hear and follow every word of the Lord sent his way, I received my ow
n message from heaven telling me that someday this very verse of scripture would take on even more personal meaning for me.

Now fast-forward another four years to 2022. Needless to say, I was in a drastically different stage of life. My wife and I had two sons now, I had completed my Ph.D. program, the world had been through a global pandemic, and we had moved back home to Utah with a house in Layton. Furthermore, the nature of The Church's Sunday School program had changed to what is now called Come Follow Me, a program designed to encourage more self-study and teaching at home. On the morning of June 10th, I began my daily scripture study by reading the program's chapters for that week, which brought me back to the first few chapters of 1 Samuel. With the memory of four years ago now at the front of my mind, I again found great meaning in that great verse about Samuel's character. Yet, I did not have a particular life experience tied to it.

Well, having the Friday off of work, I headed out on a bike ride with my three-year-old son Aaron in a seat that mounted on the back. I had been on many such bike rides before in Connecticut and he always found them to be very enjoyable, as did I. We began heading north on a local bike trail and continued for about 12 miles. As we came to the intersection of 300 North and Barlow Street in Clearfield, UT I began feeling a little light-headed. Having expected nothing to differ from our previous bike rides on the eastern coast, I had neglected to bring a water bottle, did not anticipate the consequences of a higher altitude, and had eaten only a modest breakfast in the morning. Well, after a few seconds of feeling light-headed, I began to pass out and before I knew it the bike with Aaron strapped in tightly was laying sideways on the sidewalk with me in the same position.

While I briefly came back to being slightly conscious in a way that I can still recall, that didn't last long. But it at least lasted a few seconds long enough for two other bikers to see us and realize that something was wrong. They quickly came to help and, with me only slightly conscious, helped to position me in a sitting position against an adjacent fence, taking care of Aaron who was happy and easy-going the whole time. After about thirty seconds of being completely blacked-out I began to come back enough to drink a whole bottle of water that the two people gave me. After this I began to get much more conscious and after a minute or two more of sitting I was at the point where I could stand up and communicate more fully with the bikers who came to our aid.

After calling up Bethany to come and pick us up, I discovered that the names of the people were Jeff and Tiffany. As we waited there together for about twenty minutes, Jeff mentioned to me that he had received a prompting earlier that day to bring two extra water bottles on his bike ride, not quite knowing why. But deciding to follow that prompting he did so, and ultimately found out that they were intended for me. At that moment, the scripture of 1 Samuel 3:19 came directly to mind and I realized that Jeff and Tiffany were the perfect example of letting "none of [the Lord's] words fall to the ground". 

It was very humbling to realize that the Lord was watching out for me. But it is equally inspiring to know that the these two Christ-like individuals, Jeff and Tiffany, were so in-tune with heavenly revelation to recognize that bringing two extra water bottles on a bike ride was important enough to follow. God knew that these people were the right ones who would recognize the prompting, heed that prompting, and cross paths with someone who desperately needed that help. How grateful I will always be for this experience that stirs me to try and be as open to the Lord's revelations and Samuel, Jeff, and Tiffany!