A Godly Mom In Desperate Times
MothersDay2019
VIDEO – socialmedia moms
WELL – today is Mother’s Day, happy Mother’s day to all the moms that are out there!
QUESTION – does anyone out there think that moms are awesome – amazing – incredible – wonderful - special?
Moms, please come up front…
OKAY TODAY – Mother’s day 2019, it is my honor and privilege (in a conversation called, ‘A Godly Mom In Desperate Times)
TO - talk about a pretty awesome…
A MOM who is a model and example not just for the MOMS in this room, but for anyone who wants to live a godly life
Her story is recorded in the first 2 chapters of the book of 1 Samuel.
AND LISTEN – this mom, Hannah…lived in a desperate time.
YOU SEE - she lived during that 300+ year period of time in between Joshua conquering the promise land and God’s people getting their first king. It is called the period of the Judges…
A period that God’s word summarizes in this way in the very last verse of Judges.
In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. – Judges 21:25
NOW - Hannah’s story takes place during the final years of that period.
OKAY – here is how I want to unpack our conversation this morning…
BY WALKING THROUGH - her story in 1 Samuel (pretty much verse by verse) and pulling out several lessons and truths along the way, about living a godly life.
SO IF YOU - have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to 1 Samuel.
If you have a Bible app, open it up to 1 Samuel, because (like I said) we’re just going to walk through this Scripture narrative that is a story of a godly mom in a desperate time.
BECAUSE - one thing we know is that even on the day that we pause to celebrate the joy of motherhood…
WE STILL KNOW – without any doubt whatsoever that when it comes to desperation, MOMS get it.
YEAH – moms know what it’s like to feel worn out and to feel helpless and to feel uncertain and inadequate.
I MEAN… THERE’S - the endless crying and the sleepless nights,
AND THERE’S - the nonstop messes …AND the questions…
AND the discipline… AND the testing of boundaries…
AND the raging hormones…
AND – there’s this simultaneously begging for the day that they will grow up and move out, WHILE - at the same time never wanting that day to come and wishing their child could stay young forever.
YES IT’S - a blessing to be a mom, BUT it’s a blessing that oftentimes means being pushed to your physical, mental and emotional limits.
IT’S - sometimes feeling so alone and then sometimes wishing you were actually alone for just a few minutes of the day.
IT’S - doing everything you possibly can to raise your kids well BUT knowing that there’s just a lot you don’t control.
IT’S - the desperation for your kids to make wise decisions and knowing that you don’t get to make those for them.
IT’S - the endless mental comparisons that you know you shouldn’t make (can you say Facebook) BUT you just can’t seem to help it.
IT’S - the feelings of inadequacy where you’re giving your best…you really are. I MEAN - you’re giving it everything you have, BUT YET - there’s this nagging sense at the end of the day that it’s just not enough.
YES BEING A MOM – is all of those things and more.
AND THEN… IT’S - getting up and doing it again the next day.
YES - there can be a lot of desperation in motherhood.
AND – in 1 Samuel chapter 1 we meet Hannah.
NOW - she’s not yet a mother.
IN FACT - that’s part of her desperate situation.
She wants so bad to be a mom.
OKAY – let’s do this…
A godly mom in a desperate time.
AND LISTEN - as we look at the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, WE WILL SEE - 5 Defining Traits or Characteristics of a Godly Mom.
AND REMEMBER – like I said earlier these 5 truths apply to anyone who wants to live a godly life…
Prayer
I. A Godly Mom Experiences Real Problems
NOW - as 1 Samuel opens up we begin to find out some things about this family…
There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.
Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. – 1 Samuel 1:1,2
OKAY SO - you know, that this family dynamic is a recipe here for disaster and despair, right?
NOW - what most likely happened is that Elkanah married Hannah; she wasn’t able to have kids, so he married Peninnah so that she would bear him children.
THIS - is one example of many in Scripture of polygamy.
NOW - Sometimes people read about polygamy in Scripture and think that the Bible endorses polygamy. That’s not the case.
Don’t confuse examples of polygamy for an endorsement of polygamy.
IN FACT - in every instance in Scripture polygamy is presented to us as a horribly bad idea, and it always brings havoc to these families involved.
UNDERSTAND - God’s plan was and is one man (and) one woman for life, and that isn’t reflected in polygamy.
AND - again and again in Scripture, you just see all the problems that come along with it.
SO - Hannah is in this difficult and desperate situation.
She’s struggling with infertility.
NOW - statistically, about one in six couples will struggle with infertility. AND - that number jumps to about one in four couples when it’s over the age of thirty-five.
AND - according to one study 63% of women who experience both infertility and divorce rated their infertility as an emotionally more painful experience than their divorce.
AND - in another study women who experienced either chronic illness or a life-threatening diseases ranked the emotional pain of infertility on the same level…or similar level…to a terminal illness.
YOU SEE - there’s a sense in which, as one grief counselor explained, that when a person goes through a chronic illness or terminal disease they get support; BUT - oftentimes when people are struggling with infertility…others don’t know about it and those that do can underestimate the pain of the situation and then they end up offering platitudes that make people feel even worse about their situation.
AND NOT - to take away from the struggle or the heartache of infertility today,
BUT - in Hannah’s context it would have been more difficult; because there was a lot of social pressures…
AND - economic pressures…on a woman, even more so in that day, to be a mom.
IN FACT IT WAS - considered to be her primary purpose for existence.
YOU SEE - it wasn’t just her most important contribution to the family but to society.
AND SO - as a result, in Hannah’s day a lot of people would look at a woman who was barren and they would think that they’re cursed by God. SO - there would be judgment towards that person. That God was punishing them for something that they had done.
NOW - what’s interesting, though, is if you just make a list of women in Scripture who struggled with infertility you’ll find that they’re…it’s a list of righteous women. It’s people like Sarah, Abraham’s wife; and Rebecca, Isaac’s wife…and Rachel, Jacob’s wife; or Elizabeth, the mom of John the Baptist.
AGAIN - Godly moms will experience real problems
Now isn’t that encouraging?
BUT LISTEN – in a way it should be…
BECAUSE - I think too often people think, and moms in particular think, that if I have problems in my life, I must not be living in a godly way or I must be a bad mom.
UNDERSTAND B/S – that is a lie straight from the deceiving lips of satan, the evil one.
REMEMBER - Jesus told us that we are going to have trouble in this life.
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. – John 16:33
UNDERSTAND - throughout the Bible we see countless people who are striving to live for God, yet who still face very real problems…
Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Esther, David, Daniel and here we see Hannah
QUESTION… Are there any moms, any people, any one in this room experiencing a problem.
MAYBE - it’s not an infertility issue…
MAYBE - it’s desperation over failing health or a broken marriage or a rebellious child or strained finances or a fractured relationship…
“In this world we will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.”
OKAY – back to 1 Samuel…
Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. – 1 Samuel 1:3
(It was about a 20 mile journey)…
NOW - this verse shows us something about Elkanah’s walk with God. I MEAN - when the whole culture was headed south spiritually (everyone doing what was right in their own eyes), Elkanah swam against that tide, and he took his family to worship.
NOTICE THAT - last part of verse 3 indicates that Hophni and Phineas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord (associate pastors to their dad the high priest). AND – we know from Scripture that these two guys were hypocrites at best and evil at worst.
BUT LISTEN - nothing kept Elkanah from going to worship and sacrificing to his God.
UNDERSTAND – he could have said, “Hey, no one else is going, it’s too far to travel, the service is too early, and I don’t like the pastors there anyway - so I won’t…
BUT UNDERSTAND – even if no one else was really worshipping or sacrificing to God Elkanah made sure that His family did.
On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. – 1 Samuel 1:4,5
NOW – this sacrifice was a thanksgiving offering, where the worshipers were allowed to eat the part that was not offered to God. AND THIS - “double” portion that he gave to Hannah literally means, “to show the face.”
YES – Elkanah showed his face to her, indicating that she was worthy and that he cared deeply for her.
YOU SEE - in that culture, honored guests were always given a “super-sized” meal.
NOW SURE – it had to be difficult for Hannah to eat the food that was associated with the “thanksgiving offering,” when she probably wasn’t all that thankful.
HOWEVER - having a husband who expressed his love probably helped some.
AGAIN – Elkanah was striving to be devoted to God, but he was not perfect… He had two wives, which led to a divided family.
So Peninnah would provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. – 1 Samuel 1:6
The word “provoke” literally means, “to cause her thunder.” She’s trying to get Hannah to blow her top! The word “irritate” refers to being stirred up inwardly.
• “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 even know how to change a diaper, since you have never had any kids?”
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. – 1 Samuel 1:7
Verse 7 says, “Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle.
AND - each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and wouldn’t even be able to eat.”
I MEAN – she is in such despair—(and some of you know what this is like)—she doesn’t even have an appetite. She doesn’t…doesn’t even eat. That’s how upset she is by her circumstances.
AND – that’s the challenge, right?
I MEAN - verse 7 really captures the heart of desperation… “Year after year…” “Year after year it was the same.”
Pain + Time = Desperation.
YOU KNOW - it’s okay at first. You think, “I can handle this for awhile. But then as the years pass by and nothing changes.
WHEN - year after year it’s still the same,
THAT – is when the desperation begins to grow.
NOW - in verse 8 Hannah’s husband tries to make her feel better…
‘Why are you crying, Hannah?’
‘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?’
OKAY GUYS - there are a lot of rookie mistakes taking place here. LIKE - he’s got two wives. SO - it seems like he should’ve figured some of this out by now, BUT…
he starts off by seeing that she’s upset
and telling her not to feel upset.
Bad idea, fellas, right?
Like, don’t do that.
If your wife is telling you how she’s feeling, don’t say,
“Oh, come on babe, you don’t need to feel that way. Feel a different way instead.”
Trust me that does not work.
THAT - is not effective husbanding.
GUYS – GET IT?
AND THEN - Elkanah tries to assume that he’s the solution to whatever problem she’s got, right? Like,
“Come on babe, look at me… I mean, you won the husband lottery. What else do you really want in life? I mean, surely…surely this is enough.”
AND SO - he’s trying to make her feel better, but he is only making her feel worse, feel even more alone, right?
He’s making her feel even more isolated, because she knows that he doesn’t really understand where she and how desperate and empty she feels.
And so Hannah is desperately empty and her husband can’t fill her up. He can’t do it.
MGCC
Godly moms will experience real problems…
LISTEN – following Jesus does not mean that you are not going to have problems….
QUESTION – is anyone out there facing a real problem?
ONE - that are making you feel a little desperate?
AGAIN - having problems does not necessarily mean that you’ve done something wrong or that God is made at you.
PROBLEMS – are just an unfortunate part of this broken and fallen world.
AND SO – the key is what do you do and where do you go with those problems.
Let’s see what Hannah did.
II. Godly Moms, Pray Bold Prayers
Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. – 1 Samuel 1:9
NOW - this phrase “got up”…
IS NOT – talking about Hannah changing her posture.
That’s not what it’s indicating.
It’s not like, “Well, she was sitting down and then she stood up.”
INSTEAD – the Hebrew carries the idea that she arose.
THAT SHE - had enough of living this way and now she was going to do something different.
THAT SHE - is going to try a different path, a different direction.
(you know, I think there may a few people in this room who like Hannah need ‘to get up.’)
SO SHE - got up and she goes to pray, and she prays this desperate prayer.
IT’S - the prayer that you can only pray when you’ve tried things your way and they haven’t worked, when you’ve attempted to fix things and it’s only gotten messier.
IT’S - the kind of prayer that you pray when you’ve ignored things for as long as you possibly can but now it’s just falling apart all around you. IT’S - the kind of prayer that you pray maybe after wallowing in it for so long, BUT THEN - you just reach a point…year after year it’s the same.
YOU – reach the point where you know that…
You’ve got to do something different, so what do you do?
You get up
and you go to God.
UNDERSTAND - one of the things —and it’s just consistently true, is that oftentimes people will only turn to God when they have nowhere else to turn.
AND LISTEN – that is not a bad thing!
IN FACT – it’s a very good thing.
I MEAN – anytime we turn to God is a good thing, right?
SO – quit beating yourself up for waiting so long, and simply be in His presence.
AFTER ALL - He is a loving father, He’s a good good father.
WHO – longs to give good gifts to His children.
UNDERSTAND - God as a father doesn’t say,
“Okay, yeah, NOW you want my help.”
INSTEAD – a loving , good good Father…. He sees your desperation and hears your cry and He responds.
Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.
And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on 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.” – 1 Samuel 1:9-11
Hannah says to God, “Lord if you allow me to have a son, I will…I will put him in ministry. He will serve all the days of his life.”
Now when you read that, at first it sounds like she’s negotiating with God. Like, “God, You do this for me;
AND THEN - I’ll do this for you.”
BUT UNDERSTAND B/S… God doesn’t negotiate.
God’s not a negotiator.
God’s a giver, but He’s not a negotiator.
LISTEN - you can’t negotiate with somebody who doesn’t need anything from you, right?
Like, you don’t have anything that He needs.
AND SO - when she’s talking to God here, this is not negotiation. INSTEAD - what you have here is surrender. Do you hear that?
UNDERSTAND – in the midst of her real problem and desperation… Hannah is saying - “Lord, I will give him to you. Lord, I’ve been asking and asking for a child for me. Now I’m asking for a child for You.” Big difference.
AND LISTEN - our desperation (your desperation) should lead us to that same place, to that place of surrender.
“Lord, I been asking and asking (in the midst of this problem, in my desperation) for me, for my way, for what I want, for my will… Now I am asking for you, and for your will”
OKAY – there are a couple of things in Hannah’s desperate prayers that we should take note of is:
Number one, in her desperation she looks to God.
She calls out to Him as the Lord Almighty (literally in Hebrew Lord of Heaven’s Armies or the Lord of Angel Armies).
SHE’S - recognizing His power and control.
SHE’S - recognizing the reality of her situation.
THAT SHE - can’t do anything – But that He can do anything, right? That she can’t, but God can!
AND SO SHE - recognizes His power and strength and (in the very next phrase) she recognizes that God sees her.
She asks God, humbly, to look at her.
LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me… - 1 Samuel 1:10
MAN - I love this in the prayer because Hannah…somewhere along the line she has learned a quality about God that can be very difficult for us to pick up on, and that is:
That not only is GOD all-powerful but He is all-loving.
NOW – this is a quality that’s hard for us to put our arms around:
That God is the God of the universe who holds the world His hands…
AND YET - He is the God who knows it when a single hair falls from your head and who keeps track of your tears in a bottle.
AND AS - a mom-to-be, she understands this quality of God.
SO - in her desperation she cries out to Him, knowing that He has both the power and the heart.
Godly MOMS…
• Experience real problems
• They pray bold prayers, AND…
III. Godly Moms, Trust In God’s Provision
As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” – 1 Samuel 1:12-14
AND THAT - That says a lot about the culture at that time.
I MEAN -¬ there were probably drunken people around the temple all the time, and Eli thought she was just another one of them.
“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.
Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
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. Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah.
– 1 Samuel 1:15-19
Do you know what phrase really hit me?
Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. – 1 Samuel 1:18
I love it. I am inspired by it. Challenged by it.
I MEAN – her circumstances have not changed. She still did not have a child. Peninnah was no doubt still taunting her.
BUT AFTER - spending time in prayer, her face was no longer sad. Why? Because she had poured out her heart and left her concerns with the Lord and now she’s experiencing the “peace that passes all understanding.” UNDERSTAND B/S…
WHEN - you’ve wrestled with God in prayer,
WHEN – you have met with the one for whom all things are possible, that alone is enough to bring you peace.
Paul put it this way…
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6,7
Peter said it like this…
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - 1Peter 5:6,7
And David sang…
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. – Psalm 55:22
Hannah was experiencing a real and difficult problem
She prayed a bold prayer
She trusted God’s provision
AND – guess what God showed up…
So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”
Samuel = ‘heard of God’
21 When her husband 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,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. – 1 Samuel 1:20-23
AGAIN - Hannah was a godly mom…
• who faced real problems
• prayed a bold prayer
• trusted in God’s provision
AND – God showed up!
AND – guess what he still does!
SERMON HELP...
MOMS, have you ever experienced a difficult and desperate moment 'as a MOM' and you CRIED OUT to God and He SHOWED UP?
I would have to say. My child's health. My son has autism and a rear heart condition. We went thought one open heart surgery already. Most stressful thing ever! He will need a second surgery. We don't know when. His condition will just go down hill and that is when it will be time. With his autism we battle many obstacles. I am constantly asking God for guidance in situations and he provides every time!! As for my monkeys heart. He got us through the first one. When it's time I have faith that he will guide us and take care of my monkey.
- Angie Werring
When I lost my son. I was wailing at God and I told him I lost my son. He clearly told me back I lost My Son. It reminded me he knew how I felt.. I've also seen how God has used this horrible experience for good.
– Kathy Ellington
Yes! Many times! But the 1st one that comes to mind is when John was born and developed Necrotizing enterocolitis soon after. On the drive to the hospital, after Curtis was sent home from Iraq because John was so close to death, I remember thinking "Lord, if John dies, I'm just going to give up and die, too." And He immediately and loudly said to me, "oh no you aren't!" Lol. It was like a very stern Dad voice. He said, "you will NOT give up. You will GET UP and keep going. You don't get to just quit." And we drove on and I thought, "ok, I guess that's not an option."
He never told me that John was going to live or be healthy. He just said I couldn't give up on life no matter what happened. And then, he healed John quite miraculously! And God has been holding me up through every Mom moment since! - Brenda
One Sunday while Steven was out of town for a workshop, I had to bring all four kids to mass alone. They were probably about 5, 3, 1.5 and baby at the time. On my way to mass, I desperately prayed to God that he please help me manage the kids. As soon as I sat down in the pew, a friend walked up and asked to take care of the baby for me. My hands were free to manage the others... It wasn’t how I pictured Him answering the prayer. I imagined it as my children behaving like perfect little angels. - Sarah
I remember the last conversation I had with Judy. She had been taken to the hospital due to complications from the cancer and we all knew that she would not be coming home with us. I really wanted to see her, but I knew that Steve and her family needed their time, so I just waited in the waiting room for hours.
Steve came out and I told him I was going to get the kids (Chelsea and John). It was something that I did during those last months. I would take them to the movies, buy them anything they wanted and just love on them. On my way out, Steve said “Judy wants to see you.”
As I walked into her room, she looked so very weak and had so many tubes attached to her… and as I walked up to her bed, the only thing she could say was this… “take care of my children.” Now, on that day, she knew I was going home to take them to the park, but from spending so much time with her, and knowing her fears and concerns for them, Judy and I knew what that meant. It meant more than just for that day. It meant always. - Laurie Malone
IV. Godly Moms, Excel In Keeping Their Promises
After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, a basket of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.
When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 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.
- 1 Samuel 1:24-28
Remember back in v. 11 that Hannah 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.
Now imagine for a moment. That 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 had heard her prayer, and kept his promise and she would do the same.
UNDERSTAND - we glorify the Lord when we keep our word, even when it hurts.
LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He… who keeps his oath even when it hurts…. - Psalm 15:1,4
UNDERSTAND - the goal of every mom (of every parent) should be to raise your children to trust in the Lord and to serve Him with all their hearts.
EVEN IF - it requires sacrifice for you…
AND LISTEN – it will require you to sacrifice time, energy, money, convenience…etc
FOR – your children to grow up fully sold out to the Lord.
To secure our children’s faith is most important role we have as parents. As a youth minister, I was amazed with the parents who went to great lengths to help their children succeed in baseball, band, gymnastics, dance and soccer.
No drive was too far, no cost was too extravagant. Yet these same parents would be cavalier regarding their children’s spiritual foundation. Jesus reminds us, “What does it profit if we gain the world and loose our soul?” Let me put it another way, what does it matter if your child plays first string, yet does not have Jesus first in his or her heart? - Alan Tison
AGAIN - this is the ultimate goal of parenting…
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. – 3 John 4
YES - 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.
AND WHILE - she gave Samuel to her Savior, she never bailed on her responsibility. Look at 2:19…
“Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.”
The robe was made by her own hands and was a constant reminder of her love for her son, though they were separated by distance, Samuel was reminded of his mother’s love every time he wore the robe.
FINALLY… in Hannah’s story we see that…
V A Godly Mom Explodes With Praise For the Lord
NOW - we don’t have time this morning to plumb the depths of Hannah’s beautiful psalm of praise…
BUT - I do want to point out that there is no element of sadness here at all.
I MEAN - she has just dropped off Samuel at the temple and now she breaks out into praise.
AND AGAIN – this is what happens when we
• get up and go to God
• crying out to Him about our real problems
• trusting in His provision
• and keeping our promises to Him.
“My heart rejoices in the LORD!
The LORD has made me strong.
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
I rejoice because you rescued me.
2 No one is holy like the LORD!
There is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Stop acting so proud and haughty!
Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the LORD is a God who knows what you have done;
he will judge your actions.
4 The bow of the mighty is now broken,
and those who stumbled are now strong.
5 Those who were well fed are now starving,
and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
and the woman with many children wastes away.
6 The LORD gives both death and life;
he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.
7 The LORD makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up.
8 He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the LORD’s,
and he has set the world in order.
9 “He will protect his faithful ones,
but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
10 Those who fight against the LORD will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
the LORD judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
he increases the strength of his anointed one.”
- 1 Samuel 2:1-10
YOU KNOW - as I was thinking through Hannah’s story, one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was:
WHAT IF - God would’ve answered her request the first time she made it?
LIKE WHAT IF - the first time she said, “God, would You allow me to have a child?”
WHAT IF - God said, “Yeah. Sure!”?
I think the story would’ve been completely different, because her son would’ve probably grown up in a home where he was used a little bit as a pawn between Hannah and Penninah, and chances are Hannah would’ve been a lot more tempted to kind of put her hope in her son rather than her hope in God.
And, well, a lot of things would’ve been different.
You have to wonder if Samuel wouldn’t have…he wouldn’t have grown up the same way.
But because God, in ‘His perfect timing’, allowed things to unfold the way that He did, Samuel was raised to serve the Lord.
He was raised in the temple.
He grew up and became a great priest and leader for Israel.
IN FACT - in many ways (he) is a forerunner for Christ…
IN THAT - he rescued the people and anointed David to be King.
AND SO - God was working things together for good.
NOW – Hannah couldn’t see that then, but God was working things together for good, as He always does….
AND SHE - put her trust…she put her hope in Him.
If you’re here this morning and you are in desperate time…
You are at the right place.
Because - this is a place to look to God, to be reminded of His power and His strength and His love that is available in your life.
Let's Pray
(message inspired by a talk I heard Kyle Idleman give on Youtube)
