Commitments Of A Godly Mother

Today we celebrate Mother’s day and baby/infant dedication. What a beautiful act is displayed in a baby dedication! God honors such actions. I think it is our desire to learn more about what it means to dedicate ourselves and our children to God. That is what I want to help with today. For a text please turn to I Samuel chapter 1. In this text a childless mother prays for and is given a baby boy. She in turn dedicates that child to God. The ladies name is Hannah. Her child’s name is Samuel. The word Samuel means “Heard of God.” It signified the special circumstances under which Samuel was born. Samuel was a strategic leader in the life of the Israelite people. He served a transitional period in the history of Israel. He served in the interim period between the judges and the kings. Samuel was one of God’s big league servants. (refer to Jer. 15:1 & Ps. 99:6) There is an encouraging thought behind this passage. God used Hannah to raise a strategic player in His service. God may be using you, as parents, to raise an important leader for our nation, our schools or our churches.

Take a look at Hannah and learn from her. We see Hannah’s commitment to parenthood in at least four ways.

1. She prayed desperately for a child. (see 1:11)

2. She prioritized the rearing of her child. Each year their family made an annual pilgrimage to offer a special sacrifice to the Lord. When Samuel was a baby Hannah did not make the trip. She determined that Samuel was her focus at the time. She knew her priorities.(see 1:21-22)

3. She dedicated her child to God. (see 1:28)

4. She was faithful to the responsibility of parenting. She considered it an honor to be a parent. (see Ps. 127:3-4) In fact, in their society it was considered a disgrace to be without children. In our society that is not the case. Some people choose to remain childless. Hannah was burdened by her childlessness. As God blessed her with a child she gave her very best to the responsibility of rearing the child. We see an example of this in chapter 2 verse 18. Samuel was serving in the Lord’s house. The Bible tells us every year Hannah made him a special robe. She was faithful in her duty.

Hannah was a good example of dedication and a good example of a Godly mother. What can we learn from her that will help us in our walk with the Lord? I want to share three commitments, which Hannah made, which every parent and every person should make.

I. The first commitment of a Godly mother is to Commit your situation to God.

A. Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations.

Joke: Chuch Swindle tells a humorous story that illustrates this point. There was a man walking down the streets of Belfast, Ireland, on his way home. Over the years there has been much unrest between Catholics and Protests on the streets of Belfast. This man was worried as he walked home that night. True to his fears a man jumped out of the shadows and stuck the point of a knife to this man’s throat. In a gruff voice the assailant asked “Catholic or Protestant.” Seized with panic the man reasoned to himself, “If I say Catholic and he’s a Protestant---whoosh! If I say Protestant and he’s a Catholic, I’m a goner! Then he thought of a way out. He said, “I’m a Jew!” The assailant chuckled, “Ha! I’m the luckiest Arab terrorist in Belfast.!”

Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations. Think about Hannah. She was involved in a polygamous marriage. In addition, she was the object of scorn of the other wife in the relationship. In 1:6 we read where the other woman taunted Hannah because of her childlessness. In their society childlessness was considered a disgrace. So Hannah was feeling disgrace, ridicule and was involved in a jealous squabble. Hers was not an easy situation. The important thing we learn from Hannah is that she committed her situation to God.

It is not always easy to give God the situations in our lives. I heard about a woman who for many years couldn’t sleep at night because she worried that her home would be burglarized. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar. The husband said to the burglar, "Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you."

A real burglar can steal from you once. Worry can steal from you night after night, for many years. Worry not only steals our sleep, but worry also steals our health and our abilities to cope with life productively.