True Grit: Traits of a Godly Mom
1 Samuel 1:1-2:2
Intro: [Tribute to the Pastor’s wife by H.B. London]
-Being a mom today is a tough job. It is hard, it causes sleepless nights, it brings trouble into your life, it is often a thankless job.
-God has designed moms with a caring heart and soul. But even though God has given them a heart of love for their kids, it’s not an easy task. Most moms make it through motherhood because God has also made them pretty tough. But the challenges that come with motherhood are great, and the greater challenge is to be a mom who honors the Lord with her life.
-This morning, in honor of all the moms here today, we are going to look at a woman who faced some difficult challenges, but became a model of motherhood to show how moms can be Godly moms.
-Today’s message is not just for mothers, however. It is something that applies to each one of us here, Mom, Dad, single or married, male or female, because ultimately this is about how we can be godly people.
1 Samuel 1:1-8: 1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim (Ray Muh thay uhm), 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. 3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. 6 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?"
1. A Godly Mom will Face Problems
-I think too often people are thinking, and moms in particular, that if I have problems in my life, I must not be living in a godly way and I must be a bad mom. Let me tell you that simply is not true.
-Jesus told us that we are going to have trouble in this life.
-John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
-2 Timothy 3:12 … everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
-Throughout the Bible we see people who are striving to live for God who are facing problems: Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Esther, and here we see Hannah
-We see in these verses that Hannah’s husband Elkanah had 2 wives and his other wife had children. Verse 2 tells us that “Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.”
Now this is in an age when one of the main purposes of having a wife was to provide children.
-And not only was she not able to have children, but she faced ridicule for this year after year.
1 Samuel 1:6-7: 6 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.
-“Hey Hannah, could you help me with my children, I have so many.”
Hey Hannah, would you mind helping me change a diaper, oh do you know how to change a diaper, since you have never had any kids?”
-And this went on year after year. Hannah I am sure felt feelings of inadequacy. She suffered bouts of depression. Lord, what are you doing here? What am I doing here? She wondered what her purpose in life was.
-I am certain there are people here today who feel inadequate, or are depressed, or don’t understand yet why the Lord has them in the situation they are in.
-Maybe there are some here today who haven’t been able to have children or who have lost a child or who are struggling to provide for their family
-Maybe you are facing problems and thinking, I must not be a good or godly person in the eyes of God since this is happening to me.
-Well, this message is for you today.
-To be a Godly Mom or a Godly person does not mean that you are not going to have problems.
-You are going to have to face problems. But you need to know that you don’t have to face them alone and just because you face problems does not mean that you are not loved by the Lord.
-But what can we do in those moments? How should we respond?
-Let’s see what Hannah did.
1 Samuel 1:9-16
9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s temple. 10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
12 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
15 "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
2. A Godly Mom Prays
-Hannah was pouring out her soul to the Lord.
She had some real problems that were causing her pain and anguish, but instead of giving up, she looked up. She looked up to God in prayer.
-Often, it is not until we are facing problems that we turn to the Lord. So often, we try to handle things ourselves. Difficult circumstances in our life teach us to persevere and they help us to mature and rely upon God.
-James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
-When we don’t mature in Christ, when we aren’t continually counting on Him, we will be lacking in the relationship with Christ that is essential to truly living.
-When Paul had his thorn in his flesh, God would not take it away because it was there to help Paul continue to rely on Him. We can count on the grace of God to strengthen us and get us through.
Jesus told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
-Christ’s power in our lives is made perfect in our weaknesses. It is not until we face problems that our weakness is exposed. In areas where our weakness is exposed, we often have no choice but to turn to Christ.
-That is where Hannah is.
-She is at the end of herself. She cries out to God in her weakness.
-Some of you here today may be suffering through different issues.
-Go to God with your problems
-Pray that through whatever you are experiencing that God will grow you.
-And pray for God to change things. He can and He does.
-Hannah did not turn away from God in her problems, but she turned to God with her problems.
-Be a Godly Mom and express what you are feeling to God in prayer. Be an example to your children.
-Being in relationship with God does not mean putting on a show that everything is ok when it is not. Being in relationship with God means being real in expressing how you are truly feeling to God and asking for His help in dealing with it.
-That is what Hannah did. That is what you should do. We need to be praying in everything.
Let’s continue and see what else we can learn from Hannah
1 Samuel 1:17-20 - 17 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
18 She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."
3. A Godly Mom Trusts God’s Provision
-Now, yes God did bless Hannah and provide a child for her. And yes God does change our circumstances sometimes as part of His provision.
-But sometimes He doesn’t change our circumstances, but He still provides for us.
-Remember what we just read regarding Paul’s thorn in his flesh.
2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
-God did not take away the circumstance of Paul, but He provided for Him through His grace.
-Now look at verse 18 in 1 Samuel 1. Before she became pregnant, before she even could have been pregnant, God provided peace for Hannah.
-1 Samuel 1:18 - “she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.”
-As we trust in Jesus for salvation and grow in that relationship and pour out our hearts to the Lord in anguish, God cares for us and provides for us through the peace that only He can provide.
-Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-God’s provision does not necessarily change our circumstances, although we certainly can ask for that. However, God’s provision does change us.
-We still may not understand everything, but we don’t need to. Instead, we know everything that we need to know, that God cares for us and He is working out His will in our life and that is the best place to be.
-The peace of God, which transcends all understanding.
-What an incredible God that we have who provides for us so abundantly.
-Paul learned this. Philippians 4:11-13
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
-Now beyond that, we recognize that God has a desire to bless us as well.
Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
-We can trust Him to provide what we want when it will be beneficial to us and glorify Him and we can trust Him to provide peace for us always, even when our circumstance doesn’t change, but instead, He changes us.
-God is good all the time and we can trust Him to provide exactly what is best.
-Being a Godly Mom means trusting in God’s provision.
-Let’s continue reading and see what else we can learn.
1 Samuel 1:21-28
21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always."
23 "Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.
4. A Godly Mom Keeps her Promises
-Remember back in v. 11 she made a vow saying that if she had a son she would “give him to the LORD for all the days of his life"
-Hannah kept her promise that she made to the Lord.
-Now imagine for a moment. You have been unable to have any children for your whole life. Now you have your first child and you give him over to the Lord completely for His service.
-That must have been extremely hard for her yet she knew that the Lord wanted him.
We glorify the Lord when we keep our word, even when it hurts
-Psalm 15:1,4: LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He…4 who keeps his oath even when it hurts….
-The goal of every mother here should be to raise your children to trust in the Lord and serve Him even if it requires sacrifice on your part.
-In all that we do we need to be serving the Lord. Whether it is at our workplace or in our neighborhoods or in our homes, we need to be teaching our kids to serve and walk in the ways of the Lord. This is the ultimate goal of parenting.
-Hannah did the thing that would be best for her son in the long run even though it was painful for her in the short run.
-Godly moms are women of their word.
-Finally, when we are living godly lives, even as we experience problems and we pray and we have received the Lord’s provision, and kept our promises, we find that
5. A Godly Mom Praises the Lord
1 Samuel 2:1-2: Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. 2 "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
-Hannah praised the Lord, because she knew that God had blessed her and that Samuel was blessed of the Lord. She knew he was completely in God’s hands - the hands of the One that she could completely trust, that had drawn her close, that heard her in her distress, that provided for her, and that had blessed her.
-This was the God she could trust with her most valuable earthly possessions, even her son.
-This is also the God you can trust.
-This is the God who wants to draw you close, and listen to you in your distress, and give you peace, and bless you.
-Moms, no matter what circumstance you are facing today, you don’t have to face it alone.
-Being a mom is a tough job and He has designed you to be able to accomplish it with the help of a loving God.
-My question for you is have you been seeking His help and His provision
-To seek his help and provision, you need to be in a relationship with Him.
-Are you in a relationship with the one who can provide what you need?
-You need Jesus Christ. You need him to talk with, to provide for your needs, to praise and worship, but mostly to provide salvation for you.
-If you will begin a relationship with Jesus today, I guarantee you that you will never be alone. You won’t be without help and friendship and support.
-The simple fact is, is that Jesus is the only one we can turn to. He is more than enough for every need we have.
-If I can help you join your life with God’s life, I would sure love to do that. If you would like someone to talk with you and help answer your questions, there are a number of people who would welcome the opportunity to spend some time with you. Choosing to do life with God is the most important decision you’ll ever make. That’s why it is a good idea to get some help along the way. I pray that you will take a step in that direction today.
-So, true grit is not found in brute strength or even in bold exploits. True grit is found in a person who chooses to follow Jesus and face problems with prayer, trust, keeping promises, and praising the One who made us and loves us.
Message based on messages by Brian Bill – Hannah – A Model of Motherhood and Scott Kircher – Being a Godly Mom. SermonCentral.com
