The Girl Who Wrote It Down Before She Understood

On February 7, 1837, sixteen-year-old Florence Nightingale sat in her family's parlor in Hampshire, England, and heard what she could only describe as the voice of God. She wrote it in her diary that very evening — four short words: "God spoke to me." But she had no idea what He was asking. Her wealthy family expected her to marry well and manage a fine household. Nothing in her world pointed toward a specific calling.

For years, the memory of that voice haunted her. She felt restless at dinner parties, distracted during the social seasons her mother carefully arranged. Something had spoken, but she could not yet name what it wanted. It was not until she met Pastor Friedrich Fliedner and visited his hospital and deaconess training institute in Kaiserswerth, Germany, that the pieces fell together. Fliedner became her Eli — the one who helped her recognize that the stirring she had carried for years was God calling her to nurse the sick.

Young Samuel heard his name three times in the dark before Eli finally said, "It is the Lord." Sometimes God speaks long before we have the framework to understand. The voice comes first. The clarity comes later — often through someone further down the road of faith who can say, "That restlessness you feel? That is the Almighty calling your name. Answer Him."