1 Samuel 3:10. "And the Lord came and stood forth, calling as at other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' And Samuel said 'Speak, for thy servant hears." 

This is the fourth time the Lord has called to young Samuel in the same night. Each previous time, Samuel thought it was his master Eli calling to him, and got up to go see what Eli wanted. Finally, Eli realized that it was the Lord, and told Samuel to respond in this way if called again. We are told that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there was no frequent vision." (1 Samuel 3:1), and that "Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him." (1 Samuel 3:7), so it is very understandable that Samuel did not recognize God's call for what it was at first. Fortunately, God is persistent, He keeps calling, and gives us the people we need to guide us in the right direction. It is our job to hear and to be ready to serve when called.

Samuel was just a boy when God called to him, and a direct call from God was not something with which he or anyone else of his time had much experience, since it "was rare in those days" for God to send visions. But Samuel was obedient and willing to serve, so when he heard the call in the middle of the night he went to his master, asking what was needed of him. In my experience, it is not easy to rouse a boy in the middle of the night for any reason, much less to ask him for some service. So Samuel shows his faithfulness here - each time he hears the call, he gets up and goes to his master to see what is needed. He does this three times, even though he must think Eli might be getting a bit annoyed at him. Samuel hears the call, he does not ignore it and go back to sleep, and he does not let repeated denials by his master convince him that he is not hearing it. This is a good sign that Samuel is open to hearing God's word.

Often when God calls us it is not something we have experienced before and it breaks into our "normal" world in a way we do not understand. It is so easy and tempting to tell ourselves that we did not really hear anything, we must be imagining it. The temptation to ignore the call is even stronger when we add to it the discomfort of having to "get out of bed" - to break out of our normal routine, and go do the thing that God asks, which is usually something uncomfortable in and of itself (God was calling to Samuel here to go tell Eli that his sons were no good and his family would be punished - not a very fun first mission!). But, again, God is persistent - He will keep calling us if we ignore Him or get His call wrong, although some of us do choose to ignore Him our whole lives.

In addition to hearing the call and not ignoring it, Samuel, while still not understanding, obeys in the best way he can - he goes to his master Eli each time, thinking he is being summoned. This ends up being exactly the right thing to do, since it is the older and wiser Eli who realizes what is happening and tells Samuel what to do. God thus led Samuel to the person he needed in order to understand what was happening, and He led Samuel there by relying on Samuel's obedience and willingness to serve his master; two things that God is counting on in Samuel's service to Him.

Samuel's faithful willingness to hear, listen, obey, and serve, show us the right way to respond in all things. Even if we do not realize that it is God calling to us, if we approach situations with these traits of Samuel's, we will be led to the place God wants us to be, ready to do the things He wants us to do.