Barrenness By Randy Mantik Debbie and I have a wonderful, precious, 9-year-old son named Caleb Samuel. From the time Caleb was in the womb, we prayed he would follow God with His whole heart all the days of his life as did the biblical Caleb in the Book of Joshua, and that he would boldly and faithfully proclaim the word of God as did Samuel the prophet as recounted in the books named for him. Joshua and 1 and 2 Samuel are incredible accounts of God’s guiding hand on the course of humanity as well as a display of His amazing patience and love in spite of people’s rebellion. During this time in Israel’s history, there lived a righteous woman named Hannah. She had no children — she was barren, a shameful thing for a woman in those times. Her husband, Elkanah, loved her dearly. However, as was common then, he had another wife, Peninnah, who bore him several children and who enjoyed taunting Hannah. In her grief Hannah began to seek God. What an awesome relationship she developed with Him out of her pain! One day she and her family were at the tabernacle at Shiloh. Here Peninnah, true to form, mercilessly tormented Hannah. She was brokenhearted! But Hannah poured out her complaint to God. Hannah vowed that if God gave her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord. God answered her prayer and gave her Samuel. Hannah, in turn, kept her word and left Samuel at the tabernacle for service as soon as he was weaned. Samuel grew up to be Israel’s first prophet. From barrenness came life. Reflecting on this story, I’ve thought about barrenness and times in our lives that seem so unproductive. I’d like to share with you a few lessons from this story about barrenness. Take a moment to read 1 Samuel 1. Along the way, remember this, the favor of the Father is not always on what seems to be the most productive seasons of your life. Fruitfulness is not necessarily a sign of blessing. Some may seem very fruitful, yet not have God’s favor. Peninnah was prolific in her ability to give Elkanah children. It would seem that she was the blessed one! On the contrary, she was not. What gives us the sign of favor? It is God’s presence. That’s what Hannah had, even in the time of her barrenness. By the way, do you know what Hannah’s name means? It means favor! People may misinterpret our greatest devotion. Eli the priest misinterpreted Hannah’s impassioned prayer as drunkenness. Good people at times will see our deep contrition and prayer to God and judge it wrongly. They may call it “excess emotion,” never stopping to realize that emotion is honored by God. God sees our heart-felt cry! Tears break the hard ground of our barren situations, opening it up for future fruitfulness in God’s due season. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV). A double portion of blessing is given to those in barrenness. Elkanah gave Hannah a “double portion” (1 Samuel 1:5). How many times I have struggled in barren times thinking I could not sense the glory of God until I had evidence of His blessing! How many precious times I missed! I remember about a year ago being in private prayer, worshipping God. As I did, wave after wave of His sweet presence flowed in. It came at a time of great barrenness. Through that I learned a lesson: God’s blessing can actually flow most richly into my life in barren, dry times. Deep relationship with God can be more readily developed in times of barrenness. Barrenness develops the muscle of prayer in our lives. Would Hannah have developed the prayerfulness she had without her barrenness? Of course not. Her barrenness drove her to prayer. Hannah’s simple yet profound devotion to God imparted a great blessing on future generations. From her husband she received a double portion of blessing. How much more from her Heavenly Father? Barrenness sets us up for the future work of God. Had Hannah given birth to 10 kids, can you imagine how little time she would’ve had for the favored son, Samuel? Many times we are praying for blessing after blessing. The pity is that God finally gives us what we want, even though those blessings we wanted so much weren’t in His perfect will. Then our lives are filled with so many things we can’t take on the one thing God had intended for us to do in the first place. Because of Hannah’s barrenness, she had time to prayerfully nurture Samuel, God’s chosen one, the first of Israel’s prophets. Barrenness breaks us from the yoke of ungratefulness. I recall going through a very impoverished time while in college. I stretched the food in the fridge. I was even tempted to eat the green “science experiment” in the back! When I got my next paycheck I went to the store and bought what I needed. I came home and cooked up some hamburger and noodles, one of my regular entrees. As I sat down to that simple meal, for the first time I had an understanding of why we “return thanks” at a meal. I gratefully acknowledged God’s provision. Even now it brings tears to my eyes! When we have known lack, we treat the smallest of blessings with the greatest of thankfulness. For Hannah, what she had to offer was her boy. But what a man he grew into! What a great anointing was his! It was directly related to the blessing that was on him and that blessing was the result of Hannah’s prayers said with deep anguish of heart even before Samuel was conceived. Those prayers sustained her, but also aligned her with God’s great purpose. She became a part of the greater story, the story of redemption.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:00:00 +0000
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