Hineni

Hineni (pronounced hee-nay-nee) is used in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) when people respond to a direct call from God. It means “Here I am.” It’s used in OT to respond to God’s divine call, and is a reply of total surrender, total dedication to do what God is requesting. It’s a humble answer stating, “at your service,” and expresses readiness to give yourself in total availability. It implies complete presence, giving full attention to hear what God is saying and willing to fulfill the requested task. This answer marks a turning point in the lives of those who have responded to God with this word, and is undoubtably the right way to respond to God’s call. God’s desire should be our command.
As a friend of mine used to say, there’s a “What?” and a “So what?” Okay, so, what’s all this about? Well, all of this is about our response to God’s call (Ayeka/Ayyekkah in Hebrew) in our own lives—that is, how we answer when God asks: “Where are you?” You might recall what happened when God asked Adam that question.
God’s call comes every day at various moments in our lives—all throughout our lives, yes, even “to our graying years.” In a growing love relationship with him, God longs to hear his beloved answer “Hineni,” in the joyful moments as in the moments of sadness, in victory and in defeat, in sickness and health, in lack and abundance. However most of the time, we are busy; deaf and blind. We can’t hear His quiet call within the context of our busyness. Avoidance often declares, we don’t have time for this divine interruption with our goals and agendas. Yet God continues to call us. The question for us isn’t “IF,” but “HOW.” Are we listening?