"Faith Of Real Life Problems - The Story Of Hannah"

“Faith for Real Life Problems”

(1 Sam 1:1-2 NIV) "There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. {2} He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

I. Today I want to talk about facing real life problems and the faith it takes to overcome them.

A. Our text introduces to us a woman named Hannah.

1. She is one of the great ladies of the bible.

2. She is a woman with a real life problem.

3. Her story gives us an opportunity to see how a person of faith can manage problems in life.

II. Let’s take a look at Hannah’s story.

A. Turn to the very last verse of the Book of Judges and allow me to give you some background about the times in which Hannah lived.

1. The situation is bleak.

(Judg 21:25 NKJV) "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

2. The nation of Israel is torn apart by a lack of leadership and perversity which came through falling into the idol worship.

B. I want to pause here just to make an observation…

1. It seems to me that we can draw some parallels with our society today and what was happening back then.

2. Where there is a leadership vacuum; particularly a moral leadership vacuum people will be do what is right in their own eyes.

3. With no moral standard to draw the lines of right and wrong it leaves a void in society. The end result is an intolerance to any morality.

4. We are in the same place today in our nation as was back in the day of the Judges…

5. There is no moral leadership in our secularized, humanistic society so people are doing what seems right in their own eyes and you best accept it or you will be deemed intolerant, racist, bigoted, homophobic, and a host of other negative pejoratives.

C. In the book of Judges, because of the sin of idolatry God would chasten his children by raising up their enemies;

1. The nation of Israel was often oppressed by the surrounding nations.

2. The people would cry out to God during their affliction.

3. God would hear their cries, remember His covenant with them and have mercy.

4. God would appoint a judge to lead His people in repentance and overthrow their oppressors; but their freedom generally lasted only as long as the judge was alive.

5. On top of that, many of the judges, like Samson, had some fatal flaws.

D. This brings us to 1 Samuel.

1. When we come to 1 Samuel, we’re introduced to Hannah.

2. She is a woman with a real life problem.

3. This problem is the focal point of her story recorded in the first chapter.

4. What we see is a woman who did not lose faith or hope in spite of the problem she faced.

5. Her persistence and her faith brought about miracle provision that would dramatically impact not only her life personally, and her family, but an entire nation as well.

E. In her story we will see 5 Defining Traits of people of Faith dealing with real life problems.

1. If you are struggling with a real life problem you might want to take note of how she walked this out.

2. Let’s look together –

(1 Sam 1:2 NIV) "He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none."

(1 Sam 1:6-8 NIV) "And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. {7} This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. {8} Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?""

F. Let’s begin with this important understanding… People of faith

I. FACE REAL LIFE PROBLEMS

A. It’s easy to think that the heroes in the Bible were somehow different than we are.

1. We might think that it’s tough to relate to them because their lives were so perfect and their culture was so different than ours.

2. Actually, the Bible is filled with people just like you and me who had real life problems, and had to learn how face them with real faith.

B. In 1 Samuel 1, we’re introduced to a man named Elkanah.