BEING READY FOR GOD’S ANSWER
1 There was a man named Elkanah who lived…in the hill country of Ephraim…2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
Now, already, you can see where there might be some, let’s say, issues to deal with in this story. First of all, this guy has two wives, which is never a good thing. In fact, God never planned for men to have more than one wife. Men just kind of decided to do that on their own. Because, on the exterior, it seems like it would be great. But in reality, it always caused problems. Always. And this case is no different. Let’s read on.
3 Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord…at the Tabernacle.
Now, this is before Jerusalem was known as the religious capital of Israel. This was before there was a Temple was built. And so, at this time, God’s people would go to a building called a Tabernacle to offer their sacrifices to the Lord. Today, we might call it a church building. But the thing that made this building important was that the Presence of God was there. You see, located inside the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant. And the Ark of the Covenant was a golden box that the Spirit of God would, from time to time, come down and rest on. And so, the Tabernacle was seen as the place where God lived. Or, the place where God would come down and meet with His people.
And at this time, the Tabernacle was located in a place called Shiloh. And so, Shiloh was the spiritual epicenter of Israel at that time. It was the place where God’s presence was.
And so, here comes Elkanah to the Tabernacle, or as we might say, "to church," to fulfill His obligation to God as a member of God’s people.
Let’s continue.
4 On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. 6 So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same-Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
Now, as one who has many children, I know how terrible it can be when one child is being taunted by another. And hearing, over and over again, "Shut Up! Stop talking to me! Stop making fun of me!"
But can you imagine what Elkanah must have went through. Year after year after year. He had to listen to his wives bicker, and argue, and complain, and fight. Year after year after year. He had to have dreaded this trip. Because he knew it was going to happen. And there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it.
Look at verse 8.
8 "Why are you crying, Hannah?" Elkanah would ask. "Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me-isn’t that better than having ten sons?"
At which point, I’m sure, he got that look. That look that says, "You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, so you should probably just quit talking right about now.
Have any of you ever gotten any of those looks? The rest of you are just afraid to admit it. And wise to be that way, too.
Verse 9.
9 Once, after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 11 And she made this vow: "O Lord... if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut."
She was desperate. And she was willing to do anything, anything, to have God answer her prayer. Do any of you have those kinds of prayers? Desperate prayers. Those, "if something doesn’t change, it’s going to kill me" kind of prayers?
Verse 12.
12 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli [the priest] watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.
Just like a religious person. Always assuming the worst about everybody.
Isn’t it interesting that when we see someone crying at church, we automatically think their repenting of some hideous deed they’ve done. And we just can’t wait to find out what it is so we can tell somebody else about it. No, we don’t do that. Do we?
14 "Must you come here drunk?" he demanded. "Throw away your wine!"
15 "Oh no, sir!" she replied. "I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow."
17 "In that case," Eli said, "go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him."
18 "Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
This story has all the makings for a great movie. In fact, I think I’ve seen this one before.
There’s this girl who’s kind of quiet and shy, and she’s always being made fun of by this bigger, more popular girl. And then there’s this guy that you would think would like the more popular girl, and yet he falls in love with the shy girl. And they kiss and get married and live happily ever after.
And that’s kind of the way this story is. Except for the fact that these two girls are married to the same guy…which also sounds like a movie.
But this is no romantic comedy. This is a drama. And this drama is real. And at the heart of this drama is the question…
DOES GOD REALLY CARE?
Not "Does God care?" in the sense of "Does God love everybody?" I’m not talking about a general sense of "God cares." But I’m talking about, Does God care about me. And even more so,
"Does God care about my situation?"
Because it’s easy to feel, at times, as though God has allowed you to slip through the cracks.
I mean, I know that God loves me. But I’m not real sure that He’s paying attention to what I’m going through right now.
And I just need to know that He knows. I trust Him. I do. But I just need the reassurance that I’m not going through this alone. I need to know that He’s at work in all of this.
That’s where Hannah was. She was not disobedient. She was not unfaithful. She had done all that was required of her. She had made her pilgrimage every year without fail. She had fulfilled her obligations. She was a good wife. She knew was righteous.
And yet, she felt forsaken, abandoned, forgotten. She felt as if God had deserted her.
Peninnah Prospers
And to make matters worse, Peninnah was prospering. Peninnah was a wicked woman. She was evil. Or, at least, she was to Hannah. And so, Hannah had to wonder why Peninnah was getting blessed while she struggled just to get by. She had to think, "If God really cares about me, then why is Peninnah prospering?
How many of you have ever wondered why Peninnah’s been prospering and you haven’t. I mean, what does she have that I don’t have? It just doesn’t make sense.
Or does it?
I want to suggest to you, today, that your trials have purpose. Your dry times have a purpose behind them. The times when you can’t feel anything from God one way or the other, those are not accidents. Those are seasons of preparation.
They have not caught God off guard.
Neither has God been showing a lack of concern in your situation. In fact, the opposite is true. Because, you see, God is concerned alright. He’s concerned with how you’re going to respond to your situation. And He’s watching. And what He’s watching for is the exact moment that you become ready to have His plan begin to unfold in your life.
Let me show you what I’m talking about.
Look again at verse 7.
1 Samuel 1:7
7 Year after year it was the same-Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
For years and years, all Hannah did was cry and pout. For years, she had one pity party after another because of the way she was being treated, and because of the way things were. And she spent years of her life feeling sorry for herself because of the hand life had dealt her.
And, that’s not to say her situation wasn’t awful. Because it was. She was mocked. She was barren. And she was miserable.
But, at the same time, her response to her situation wasn’t helping any. And friends,
It’s not about what your situation is.
It’s about how you handle your situation.
It’s about how you respond to your situation.
And the way Hannah handled her situation was, she isolated herself. She withdrew from everybody. And yet, on the inside, she still ached.
Until one day, she had had all she could stand, and she couldn’t stand no more, and she decided to pray about it.
START TO PRAY AGAIN.
All these years of going to Shiloh and making sacrifices to the Lord, and all these years of being made fun of all the way there and all the way back, all these years of being miserable, and this is the first mention of her ever bringing the situation before the Lord in prayer.
Now, you might say, "Well surely she did. Surely this wasn’t the first time she prayed about it. But I don’t know.
How long does it take you to pray about stuff. How many days, or weeks, or months, or years do you spend whining, and crying, and complaining about it before you take it to Him in prayer?
And I’m not talking about a "God is great, God is good, Let us thank Him for our food" kind of prayer. I’m talking about a heartfelt, passionate, what the Bible calls a "fervent" prayer.
James 5:16b
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJ)
That word that is translated in English as "fervent", in the original Greek is the same word we get our word "energy" from. In other words,
"The energetic prayer of the righteous causes things to happen."
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to scream, or yell, or jump around for God to hear you. That’s not what it means for a prayer to be energetic. What it means is, your prayer is heartfelt. It’s not a "going through the motions" kind of prayer. It’s also not a prayer for show. It’s a prayer where you talk to God about what’s important to you like it’s important to you.
And that’s what Hannah did. She laid it all down, and finally, after years and years of grief, she chose, rather than just pout about it, she decided to pray about it.
And I know that seems cliché. But the reason it sounds cliché is because Satan has convinced us that prayer is not as powerful as God said it was. Jesus said, in Matthew 21:22,
Matthew 21:22
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (NIV)
And we have convinced ourselves that that’s not possible.
And yet, Jesus says in Mark 9:23,
"Everything is possible for him who believes." (NIV)
And so, what I want to ask you to do today is…
START TO BELIEVE AGAIN.
Whatever it is that you have given up on, believe. Bring it back. Dust it off. Reacquaint yourself with it. And take it before God and say,
"God, I know you you’ve been waiting on me. And I just want you to know, I’m ready now."
However,
DON’T EXPECT EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND YOU.
Elkanah couldn’t understand Hannah’s sorrow. He didn’t know why Hannah couldn’t just get over it. And the reason Hannah couldn’t get over it was because God wasn’t through with Hannah yet. There was work yet to be done. Therefore, she couldn’t just forget about it. And there was no substitute for it. She had a hunger inside herself that she didn’t even understand. But God knew. He knew exactly what she was going through. Because He had put that desire inside of her.
Friends, God has shaped each and every one of you for a specific purpose in His kingdom. He made you to accomplish certain things that you are precisely designed to do. And, although you may not realize it, He’s preparing you for that work, even now.
But again, some people are just not going to understand. Because they haven’t received the same call that you have. But you’ll know. If that burning desire within you is from God, it will become clear to you. But you can’t base you understanding on whether or not everybody likes the idea. You just gotta know that it’s God. And the way you find that out is through prayer.
YOU’LL KNOW THAT YOU’RE READY WHEN…
1. YOU’RE READY TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.
11 And she made this vow: "O Lord... if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will..."
2. YOU’RE READY TO DO IT ALL FOR GOD.
11 And she made this vow: "O Lord... if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut."
3. YOU’RE READY TO KEEP YOUR PROMISES.
How many times have we said, God, if you’ll do this, then I’ll do that. Only to find that after God is faithful on His end, we are not on ours. If we are not ready to uphold our part of the agreement, then we are not ready to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.
If we are not willing to be disciplined enough to keep our promises, then we’re not ready to have God’s plan for us begin.
4. YOU’RE READY TO BE HONEST WITH GOD AND EVERYONE ELSE.
1 Samuel 1:15,16
15 "...[Hannah said to Eli] But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow."
She didn’t act like everything was ok. She admitted it. She said, "I’m discouraged."
The word "Shiloh" actually means, "Tranquil, Peaceful, unagitated, or without disturbing emotions." Shiloh was the place of Peace, the place of Rest, the place of Serenity.
And yet, Hannah was not any of those things. Here Hannah is at the house of tranquility, and she is anything but tranquil. She is at the place of peace, but she is anything but peaceful. She is at the place where there are to be no disturbing emotions, and yet, she is extremely disturbed.
Why?
Because she was empty on the inside.
But she wasn’t going to stay that way for long.
1 Samuel 1:17
17 "In that case," Eli said, "go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him."
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me, just reading that, that Eli would have been more pleased if Hannah had been drunk. He kind of says, Oh well. In that case, may God grant your request." Like, "Oh darn. I don’t get to fuss at you."
Friends, we, as Christians need to be careful that we don’t get more enjoyment out of pointing out people’s faults than we do helping them get to where God has purposed them to go.
1 Samuel 1:18
18 "Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
What was it that made the difference? She knew God had not forgotten about her. She knew God cared about her, and about her situation. And she believed what God said He would do, He would do.
And, as we close, I want to point out one more verse.
1 Samuel 1:20
20 and in due time she gave birth to a son…"
Even after all of that, it didn’t happen immediately. It happened "in due time." And so, even after you’re ready to accomplish God’s plan, He’s still going to do it in His time. And so, the last thing is,
You know You’re Ready when…
5. YOU’RE READY TO LET GOD DO IT IN HIS TIME.
