A Series on Women in the Bible
(Use
the link below to read the verses.)
1 Samuel 1
[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]
This past year was
filled with impossible situations.
Parents working from home while their children were going to school at home, living together 24/7; an impossible situation. Grandparents could only see their children and grandchildren through a glass door or window; an impossible situation.
Maybe these
situations weren’t totally impossible, because people coped and made it through
them. But for sure they were difficult, and at times, no doubt felt impossible;
not unlike Hanna’s situation.
Elkanah, had two
wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was childless while Peninnah had children.
Elkahah would go to Shiloh every year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. He
gave a portion of meat to Peninnah to sacrifice. But to Hannah, he gave a
double portion because he loved her, and she had no children.
For years, Peninnah
kept provoking Hannah just to irritate her. At times, she provoked her to the
point where Hannah would cry so hard that she couldn’t eat. On one occasion, Hannah
was in “deep anguish, crying bitterly”
as she prayed.
11 “Lord Almighty,
if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not
forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to
the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will
ever be used on his head.” NIV
As they say… the
rest was history. Hannah got pregnant and had a son who she named Samuel.
Samuel was the prophet who led Israel for years, eventually establishing David
as king. Then the Lord made an eternal covenant with David which led to the
birth of Jesus, the Son of God.
However, it would
have been very easy for Hannah to “conveniently forget” her promise to the
Lord; to rationalize why the Lord wouldn’t really expect her to give up her
son; to justify why it would have been the right thing to raise Samuel at home
where Peninnah was constantly berating her. But she didn’t do any of these.
When Hannah returned
with Samuel to worship and sacrifice to the Lord, she went to Eli the priest, and
said to him.
26 “Sir,
do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several
years ago praying to the Lord. 27 I asked
the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now
I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his
whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there. NLT
Hannah faced many
difficult situations which must have felt impossible at times. But she faced them
with a faith that never lost hope in what the Lord could do. She believed that
He could overcome her impossible situations.
It’s so easy to
get caught up in the impossible situations in our lives; to lose hope; to lean
on our own attempts of coping rather than to trust the Lord. Hannah gives us an
inspiring example to follow.
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