Hannah, drinking from the bitter cup of barrenness....or was it just not Gods time for her to bear children But Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although The Lord had closed her womb. And her rival also provoked her severely to make her miserable, because The Lord had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:5-6) As I sat in meditation this morning beginning to look at the life of Samuel, The Lord had another plan: Hannah, his mother. In 1 Samuel 1 we find Hannah, and Hannah has something going on, The Lord had closed her womb. What made this even more difficult for Hannah was the fact that Elkanahs other wife, Peninnah, was able to bear children. So it was, when they went to yearly worship and sacrifice, Peninnah would provoke her severely, making Hannah miserable because she was unable to have children. This bothered Hannah so much that she wept and didnt eat. She wasnt fasting, the bitterness or sorrowful heart had consumed her apppetite. Q. What are you dealing with that has taken your appetite? Hannahs sorrow couldnt be exchanged with the double portion that Elkanah gave her (1 Samuel 1:5). Neither could her tears and not eating be hidden from Elkannah. (1 Samuel 1:8). Elkannah couldnt even understand how this was bothering Hannah. In his shallowness of thinking he asked a woman unable to bear children, why is your heart grieved? And am I not better than ten sons? Elkanah failed to realize two things. #1 is that Hannah wasnt a material girl. And #2, no sir Elkanah, youre not all that, youre not better than ten sons. Sometimes the people closest to us cant understand our pain, but God does. Go to Him What happens next is critical in understanding this story. After everyone else had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, still in bitterness of soul because of what she was experiencing, Hannah prayed..... Boy did she pray....Boy did she pray....Hannah prayed to The Lord and wept in anguish. She cried out to God from right where she was and in the depths of her sorrow. Hannahs prayer wasnt cute, she didnt establish religious protocol and it was about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She cried out, O God, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidSERVANT and remember me, and forget not your maidSERVANT, but give Your maidSERVANT a male child, then I will give him to The Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head....1 Samuel 1:11 What God shines the light on in this prayer is the accuracy in her confession, in her cry. She was a woman-servant. She didnt go to God in the name of church membership, she didnt talk about what ministry or auxiliary she was active in, she was a maidSERVANT. In other words, she lived a submitted life to God. She asked God to remember her, because she knew that even in all this sorrow and bitterness of heart, that Lo, God was with her. And the last powerful statement she makes is, give Your maidSERVANT a male child and Ill give him to You, Lord Beloved, theres so much in this passage. Hannah, had faith even in difficulty. And this faith is often times overshadowed by a focus on her bitterness and sorrow, but I praise God for showing me Hannahs faith. * First of all, she had a relationship with God: maidSERVANT. * Secondly, she went boldly, before the throne of God. * Next, she let her request be made known to God. * Then she surrendered what she knew God would bless her with, to God. * Then she trusted and waited patiently on God to work it out. * And lastly, in 1 Samuel 1:20, it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked for him from The Lord Lets look at what Hannah didnt do. She didnt do what Abraham and Sarah did by taking matters into their own hands. She didnt do like we do, take things into our hands, and run to fertility clinics and all other clinics. No she prayed and WAITED ON GOD. I know some will say they didnt have fertility clinics back then. Youre right, because there was no need. Hannah walked by faith. Theres a lot of things we do today, that we dont have to do, but we circumvent God and His process, and call it God and Gods will. Is it? You better start asking Him before you do things that seem right or seem like theyre a gift from Him!!!! Theres a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 Thats a lot of our problems today, we want things when we want them. But have you ever considered, the timing of God? Have you ever considered the fact that since children are a heritage from God, that He knows when He wants to allow that sperm and egg to collide? God taught me this after Kristen and I got married. He said son, I control My seed, not you. Beloved, we say it all the time, God is in control, but then we take the wheel. We listen to the world and religion, which sounds like the world. We travel that wide road daily, but the word of God teaches us, that road leads to destruction. Were killing ourselves and burning ourselves out daily, because we fail to seek and follow the voice and commands of God. Hannah and Elkanah tried to conceive, but it wasnt their time.....Frustration and sorrow set in and Hannah had bitterness of soul. IT WASNT HER TIME What have you been trying to do? Are you frustrated, sorrowful and bitter because it doesnt look like its going to happen? Are you being provoked to misery by whats going on in someone elses life? Guess what, it may not be your time. Q. Well, what do I do? A. The first question isnt what you do, its where do you stand? Hannah was a maidSERVANT...She live a surrendered life to God. She wasnt turning up. She wasnt just going to church. Once youre in the right place In Christ Jesus, you go to God, boldly, like Hannah did! Where do you stand with God?
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:35:09 +0000