Americans today are buying the most sophisticated computers, the coolest digital cameras, the sharpest video game systems, the snazziest automobiles, the most versatile cell phones and handheld organizers, and then ... and then we forget or decline or simply refuse to read the directions.
Owner’s manuals, care guides, troubleshooting Web sites, and how-to directories are just too much trouble for most impatient consumers these days.
Ignoring instructions is turning out to be a high-priced habit.
For some people, no amount of clearly written instructional material is going to make a bit of difference.
For the rest of us, however, reading the manual is essential - as consumers and as Christians. It is in the manual called the Bible that we can find answers to so many FAQs, such as:
• What should I be doing with my life?
• How can I make a fresh start?
• Where’s the guidance I need for happiness in my relationships?
• What’s the point of the day-to-day grind I’m experiencing?
• How can I make the best use of the time and money and talents that I have?
• Where’s the evidence of God in this world?
• Why do really nasty things happen to innocent people?
• Is there more to this life than I can see?
FAQ On Tackling Trouble
- TROUBLE
Jug 21:25 -25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes
- SOLUTION
I Sam 1:1 "Now there was" a certain man of
Ramathaimzophim – raw’maw’thah’yim tzo’feem
or Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim
(Compare 1:19)
- This does not seem to be a solution. --- But wait!
I. At the End Of Her Rope
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How would you feel of never being able to get what you longed for and dreamed of having and it was all the Lord’s doing? - v.5b & 6b.
1. She was Empty - v.5b
- No Children
- Without purpose - Children were the women’s responsibility
- Elkanah took Pe-nin’nah for a wife - She had children
- To bear Children - Then received husband legacy
- Are we lamenting over Sp. bareness?
2. She was Exasperated - v.6
- So close yet so far
- A Husband who loved her
- A Losing competition in the household
- A women who mocked her
3. She was Exhausted - v. 7
- Year after year – Prayer after Prayer
- Tears Spent
- Never an answer
- In it all was the Lord (He had shut her womb)
- If only our lack of Christ would vex us
- Shame on us who are barren spiritually
II She Would Not Let Go
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- What would you do? Quit, Give Up?
- Hannah’s Formula for trouble
1. Prayed - v. 10, 12, 15
- She never attacked Pe-nin’nah
- Prayer was her relief
- Trials send us to Him
2. Committed- v.11
- Purpose in her heart to give to God
- Withholding nothing
- Honor God’s glory
3. Believed - v.18
- She brought her burden to the Lord
- She went away without it
- Results in peace in her heart & life
- Evidence was there for all to see
4. Worshiped - v.19
- Continual trust evidenced in what we believe
- Daily walking as we wait - Returned
- Let God be God and He will work in our lives - “the Lord remembered”
III. Hanging On Pays Off
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1. Unbounded Joy - 2:1
- The unexpected longed for is born
- Samuel “His Name Is El” - “Asked of God” - 1:20
- God will be - A Victors Song - 2:1-10
- Hannah’s concept of God
- Battles won brings undescribable joy
2. Good News Shared - 1:26-27
- She had experienced God’s power in her life
- Samuel a living testimony of God’s work
- How we must be aware of God’s work in our lives
3. The Lord Get’s The Credit - v.24
- Hannah paid her vows
- Giving Samuel back formed a link between her and the Lord
- Every sacrifice we make for the honor of our Lord will certainly increase our interest in Him.
- How serious is your commitment?
