Florence Nightingale's Diary Entry, February 7, 1837

On a winter morning in Embley Park, England, sixteen-year-old Florence Nightingale sat in her family's parlor and heard something she could not explain. She later wrote in her diary that God had spoken to her, calling her to His service. She did not hear an audible voice. She did not see a vision. But something unmistakable pressed itself upon her heart with a clarity she could never deny.

The remarkable thing is what happened next — or rather, what did not happen next. Florence had no idea what this call meant. She was a wealthy young woman in Victorian England, expected to marry well, manage a household, and attend dinner parties. For nearly seven years she waited, confused, restless, searching. Her family dismissed her growing sense of purpose. Society offered no framework for a woman who believed the Almighty had summoned her to something greater than comfort.

It was not until she was twenty-four that the path toward nursing began to take shape, and not until the horrors of Crimea that the full scope of her calling became clear.

Young Samuel heard the voice of the Lord three times before he understood who was speaking. He needed old Eli to help him recognize what was already happening. God's call often arrives before our comprehension does. The voice comes first. Understanding follows — sometimes years later. Our task is not to have it all figured out. Our task is simply to answer, as Samuel finally did: "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."