“A Mother Who Dared to Dream Again”
-Hannah-
I Samuel 1:1-28
Mother’s Day has a very special place in the hearts of the majority of people in America.
Hallmark estimates that 150 million Mother’s Day cards will be sent this year (but only 95 million Father’s Day cards), making Mother’s Day the third largest greeting card holiday of the year.
U.S. Americans spend an average of $105 on Mother’s Day gifts, $90 on Father’s Day gifts.
The phone rings more often on Mother’s day than Father’s day.
The busiest day of the year at car washes? The Saturday before Mother’s Day. What mom thinks still matters.
Clothes for Eternity
A mother was browsing in the ladies’ department one day with her son who was just learning to read. Trying to read all the signs he could, he came upon one in the maternity department. "Look, Mom!" he said excitedly as he pointed at the sign. "They’re even making clothes for eternity now!"
Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed." She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a textbook out from hiding under the chair.
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night Solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed." I’m on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
In the bedroom, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. "I’m going to bed." And he did...without another
thought.
I Samuel 1:1-18 is about the birth of Samuel considered the greatest figure in Israel’s history between Moses and David. Samuel’s father was Elkanah and his mother was Hannah. I Samuel chapter one the spotlight is on Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Elkanah had two wives – Peninnah and Hannah. Plural marriages were permitted under Mosaic Law. Jesus made it clear that God’s original plan was the marriage of one man to one woman. Matthew 19:8. The Old Testament record shows that trouble always followed the practice of plural marriages.
Elkanah was a godly man. He took his family each year to Shiloh where the Tabernacle had been located since the days of Joshua. They made the journey in order to worship and sacrifice unto the Lord.
Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. To have children was a sign of God’s blessing and to not have children was a source of shame to Hebrew women.
Peninnah took advantage of her situation and made fun of Hannah and became her revival and adversary. Peninnah was jealous of Hannah because Elkanah loved Hannah more than he loved Peninnah. Verses 6-7 “Peninnah kept provoking Hannah year after year…” As far as we know Hannah did not fight back but took her frustrations to God in prayer.
I. Hannah Had Her Dreams Shattered
Hannah married Elkannah and was looking forward to being a mother with children. To have a child would mean she was blessed by God according to her Hebrew tradition.
Year after year she was childless and had only one place to turn. Many mothers have had their dreams shattered – things did not work at as planned. A baby was born physically, emotionally or mentally challenged. A marriage did not work out – the mother was left with the responsibility of raising the children.
Many mothers probably feel like an Indian, cowboys found while ridding across the plain. They saw an Indian lying flat on the ground. He had one hand up in the air, his ear pressed to the dirt. As they pulled up close, he said, "Stage coach, two horses, one white, one black. Large woman with a flowered hat. Man holding a rifle. Little boy holding a suitcase." The cowboy was astonished. He asked, "How in the world can you figure all of that out by listening to the ground?" He said, "Stagecoach ran over me half an hour ago."
I remember my first few years as a pastor. We had one son at the time. Timmy was a pre-schooler at the time. I preached some powerful sermons on how to raise children and have a happy home. Later with four children I knew less and less how to effectively raise children. With the stresses of ministry and family life we felt from time to that that we had been run over by a stagecoach.
Now if you don’t have children or if you are anticipating children, I am reminded of the poster I saw that showed a woman standing there. She was very professional looking with a cup of coffee in her hand, very daintily lifting a finger, a smile on her face. But the picture also showed her slip around her ankles. The caption read, "Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation." I used to feel a lot better about parenting before we had children. I had a lot of confidence about marriage and family life before I completely understood the situation.
When her dreams were shattered Hannah turned to the Lord in prayer. Prayer often arises out of deep needs: money needs, job lose, sickness, death of a loved one, divorce, abuse.
The story is told of a ship that was sinking. When it was evident the ship was going down, the captain called out to his crew, “Does anyone here know how to pray?” One replied, “I do.” “Good,” the Captain replied. “You pray while the rest of us put on lifejackets – we’re one short.”
Hannah’s ship was going down but we read in I Samuel 1:12 that Hannah did not give up on her dream. She kept on praying. As she prayed in the temple Hannah did not give up on praying to have a child. She vowed that if God gave her a child she would dedicate him to God’s service and raise him as a Nazarite – no razor would touch his head and he would not eat or drink anything that came from a grapevine. (Numbers 6:5)
Eli the priest observed her praying – she was moving her lips and praying in her silently. Eli through she was drunk and muttering in a drunken stupor. The scripture says she was in “deep anguish and crying bitterly.”
Hannah told Eli that she had not drank anything alcoholic but she was deeply troubled and was pouring out her heart and soul to the Lord.
Eli quickly changed his accusation and joined her in her request that God would answer her prayer.
For Hannah prayer was a process more than an event. She made prayer a life-style of her life.
II. Hannah Dared to Dream Again
Hannah didn’t give up on prayer. She continued to pray and dared to dream again. It is often said that “When all else fails, then pray.” Hannah would say, “Pray first, before everything else fails.”
Hannah took time to pray. When your dreams are shattered you are more open to taking time to pray. The problem is that too often we feel we are too busy to pray. We have more pressing things to take care of. If you are too busy you need to slow down to catch up with God. Agree with the Psalmist who said: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10)
The hymn writer put it like this:
I must tell Jesus all of my trails
I cannot bear these burdens alone
In my distress he kindly will help me
He ever loves and cares for his own
John Stiles had this to say about prayer:
“I have worshiped in churches and chapels. I have prayed in the busy street.
I have sought my God and have found him in the waves of His ocean beat.
I have knelt in the silent forest in the shade of some ancient tree
But the dearest of all my altars was at my mother’s knee.
God, make me the man of her vision and purge me of selfishness.
God, keep me true to her standards and help me to live to bless.
God, hallow the holy impress of the days that used to be
And keep me a pilgrim forever to the shrine at my mother’s knee.”
My own mother dated to dream again at the age of 40. For years she taught on a provisional teaching certificate as a High School Graduate. At the age of 40 she started back to college taking summer school courses while continuing to teach elementary school grades. She started college in 1952 and graduated in 1960 after eight intense summers of going to school plus correspondence courses.
God heard and answered Hannah’s prayer in a wonderful way. A son was born to her. She called him Samuel because she said he was a gift from the Lord. Samuel was probably around six years old when Hannah took him to Eli the priest and dedicated him to full time service in the Lord’s house.
The nation of Israel at the time of Samuel’s birth was plagued with lawlessness and immorality. Samuel’s leadership helped the nation of Israel to dare to dream again. Then later God blessed Hannah with 3 more sons and 2 daughters.
I recently came across a true story that happened during the Holocaust. Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their two sons were arrested and placed in a concentration camp. The rules were simple. As long as they did their work, they were permitted to live. When they became too weak to work, they would be exterminated.
Rosenberg watched as his own father and mother were marched off to their deaths and he knew that his youngest son David would be next because he had always been a frail child. Every evening Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of hard labor and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day he came back and didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner sobbing and praying. “Josh, tell me it’s not true.” Joshua turned to his dad and said, “It’s true. Today David was not strong enough to do his work and so they took him away.” Mr. Rosenberg then asked, “But where is your mother?” Joshua could barely speak and finally uttered, “When they came for David, he was afraid and cried and so mom took his hand and went with him.”
That’s the kind of love that Hannah had for Samuel. She was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of her son. She loved him so much that she was willing to forgo a mother’s greatest joy that of bring up her son and having him around her. She was committed to do whatever it took for him to reach his godly potential.
The greatness of Samuel reflects in the greatness of his mother, Hannah.
He led Israel in its first great revival.
He drove the Philistines back into their territory.
He re-established worship of Jehovah.
He set up the Kingdom of Israel.
He anointed David.
Have your dreams been shattered? Do you need to dare to dream again?
Here is a “Daring to Dream Again Prayer” to pray from time to time.
“Lord and Master, as your servant I sincerely want to please you. I don’t need to know your plans for my entire life, so help me focus on today. To the best of my ability to discern, this is what I sense are your expectations:
Please empower me to serve you in this way. I want your dreams for me to be my dreams as well. Amen”
