The Birth of Samuel
Introduction
A young twenty-something, recently moved to town, started working as a clerk at the general store. He came from nothing, really. Living almost his entire childhood barefoot, and hardly receiving any formal education. He began working at the age of seven. Rather than a mattress, he and his only sibling, a sister slept on a bed of cornhusks until the age of 10.
Despite his family’s poverty, he clung to the few books he had, developing his intellect through reading. Even more, he held fast to his sister, developing a bond through the bitter shared experiences. Tragically, he was even deprived of her when she passed just a couple years before his arrival. On his own, he set out to make a life for himself, gaining local popularity in that general store which was a communal center in that time. In a couple years from then, he ran for public office, eventually landing in the White House.
Abraham Lincoln’s story has inspired generations of young Americans to believe that even those from humble beginnings can achieve great things.
Each of the stories of miraculous births do not just share a miraculous nature. They also share a theme of God using the small, the downcast as a major part of the grandest story ever told. And we love these stories. We love to see the underdog triumph. But no one likes being the dog when he’s “under.”
And I don’t mean to make light of real pain. Numerous times, God gives us a window into the deep disappointment of individuals throughout history. Though, in Christ, God is writing this wonderful and massive story of victory and joy, He also includes loss and pain.
In God’s grand story, people experience disappointment.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 1 Samuel 1:1–3
Why is it that Hannah desires children so much? Why is it that people in general, especially women, experience this deep longing for children? I’m sure there are many good angles from which to answer this question, but a good biblical way to answer it is: because God made us to be like Him. God made us this way. In fact, He made us this way, in part, because He wants us to “Be fruitful and multiply!”
I think if I were to ask any Christian in here, did God make Hannah to desire a child so much in this way, maybe all would have no problem saying, “Yes, He did!” Not only that, did God sovereignly orchestrate that Hannah would live in a time where bearing children was even more integral to the identity and security of women? Yes, he did! Even more, did He give Hannah to a man who would also marry a horrible woman who would mock her for her barrenness? Yes, God has made Hannah to earnestly desire to bear and raise children and has placed her exactly where she was.
God has put Hannah in this position of disappointment. And even more, the text leaves no doubt.
...although the Lord had closed her womb. 1 Samuel 1:5
…because the Lord had closed her womb. 1 Samuel 1:6
God is directly involved in Hannah’s deepest disappointment and abject brokenness. I don’t know if there are any truths more difficult to wrap our minds and hearts around than this one.
No one wants to see someone else suffer. No one wants to see another person in pain. It is hard for us to imagine God closing someone’s womb when He himself has made them and told them to want children. And yet, the Bible makes no bones about it.
How do we respond to difficult situations like Hannah’s?
1. We try to ignore the painful circumstances that we cannot change.
We could bring up many problems with this kind of response, but at least one is this: our emotions of grief and bitterness are a ticking time bomb. We cannot suppress these emotions indefinitely. Yet, sometimes we think that it is better to just push through.
2. We attribute the circumstances to mere chance.
This is the more common one, I think, for Christians. We have such a hard time blaming God for causing us pain that we decide that he must not have done it. We might say that somehow God ALLOWS this pain, but not that He caused it. Doesn’t that seem a little more acceptable? We try to keep God as being control, but not responsible for my pain.
But let me give you two reasons why it is better for God to be totally in control.
1. If God is in control of my pain, then there is a purpose in it and it is not random.
No doubt, it is a tall task for us to tell someone who is pain that they are hurting because God intends it. It’s never easy to thing to address someone’s suffering. But I ask you, what is the alternative? Would you rather that your suffering not matter?
Friend, what if I told you that God is doing something really important when He brings suffering?
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2–4
We see this so obviously in the story of Hannah. You see, Peninah thinks that by tormeting Hannah she is winning. But just the opposite is happening, by her poking and prodding and kneading, she is driving Hannah exactly to where God wants her: to her knees.
“And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” 1 Samuel 1:6–7
Friend, I don’t think I can give everyone all the answers that they want for why such horrible and difficult things happen. They even happen to the best of people. How can I explain that?
Well, I don’t think I can give all the answers we would want. But I can give the one we need: God is intending all of these things in His kindness and His true goodness to accomplish His grand story. Your pain is a part of His story. If God is in control in this way, then your pain matters. Any alternative would mean that it is pointless.
If you have some familiarity with the story of the Bible, you know how God used Samuel. He was a man of exceptional godliness. In a time when people were doing whatever was right in their own eyes, priests were mocking God’s holiness by stealing his sacrifices, and kings rebelled against God’s direction, God rose up
This man had to come from godly parents who had been tested in the fire of trials. In Hannah’s infertility, we find the seed bed for spiritual revival in Israel. Can you imagine that?
I can’t promise that your financial difficulty, your unmet longings, your chronic illness, or your broken relationship will result in a national revival. But I can promise you this, it is a part of God’s glorious and grand story.
2. If God is in control of my pain, then He can help with it.
I want to look further at Hannah’s response. Look at her prayer again.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” 1 Samuel 1:10–11
In commenting on verse 11, Robert D. Bergen says this: “Her pain had made her a theologian.” With nowhere else to turn, Hannah goes to the Lord of Hosts, the only One Who can do something about her problem.
And this is another problem with ignoring our pain and just trying to grin and bear it: we never receive the greatest benefit. The things we desperately want to change, but can’t push us to the One Who can change it!
God hears the hurting who humbly seek his help.
And what does she ask for from this Lord of hosts? Note the humility of Hannah’s prayer. No expectation at all. Total trust in the goodness of the Lord. But look in the text what does Hannah ask for?
For God to remember her. This is an ancient concept of keeping something at the forefront of your mind and doing something about the situation. We have songs that use the same concept, “Don’t you forget about me.” Or, “Remember me.”
She wants God to notice her, in her trouble and not leave her in it.
And what does God do?
Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:19–20
God does exactly what Hannah asked for. We need to be careful not to presume that God will always give us exactly what we ask for. Sometimes He doesn’t do that. But we have no doubt about this: God hears us. God remembered Hannah. And He will remember us if we humbly seek His help.
The greatest blessing of painful situations is that they have a special and bittersweet way of driving us to God for His help. Is there anyone in human history that felt smaller than Hannah? A woman in the ancient east who could not bear children, mocked by another woman who did give their shared husband children. And yet, we have perhaps one of the best examples in Scripture of prayer during a devastating trial.
We have one more thing to learn from her example. Eli asks her, in almost comical ignorance if she is drunk.
Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” 1 Samuel 1:13–16
I haven’t been pouring drinks. I have been pouring out my soul. Friend, I don’t think we need a 1-2-3 step process of how to pray. We need to take the time to learn how to pour out our hearts before God.
Hannah wasn’t making demands or throwing a temper tantrum, complaining to God. She prayed based on Who God was, bearing her heart, her soul, which means the deepest parts of her. Her feelings and desires all opened up and confessed to God. This is the kind of prayer that God hears, and notice, there is no tension between earnestness and theology.
She knows Who God is (likely at least in part the result of godly leadership and discipleship from her husband Elkanah) and humbly leaves all of her pain at His feet. This is why it is so important to learn who God is. Dale Ralph Davis says it this way: "Believers use some of their best logic in prayer." Don’t let your theology end in your head. It is meant to come out in prayer.
God’s remembrance of Hannah didn’t start back at Ramah when she finally conceived.
And it happened, 1 Samuel 1:12
Some of the most pregnant (no pun intended) words in the Bible. The Bible does this often. It’s almost an ironically atheistic perspective. It just so happened that the spiritual leader of that time happened to be chilling near Hannah as she wept her heart out.
This was God at work, beginning the lifting up of Hannah and her family.
God honors the lowly by using them in his story.
This is what God does. God brings us low so He can lift us up.
Moses in the wilderness. David with the sheep. And most of all, Jesus. In Philippians 2, Paul describes how Jesus humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant. And He even goes so far as death in His humility and lowness. But only so that God would highly exalt Him.
But each one of these examples, including Hannah and Samuel, demonstrates that God does not exalt those who are low for their own glory. It is always for His.
“The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them. 1 Samuel 2:6–8
Which categories do you think Hannah thought she was in? Hannah rejoices because her son is exalted in service to God. For her, it is an honor and a privilege to give your son to ministry in God’s plan.
Parents, it a high honor for your child to serve the Lord in vocational ministry. Pastor Thomas often emphasizes (rightfully so) that all work is sacred. That all of our vocations and occupations are for God’s glory and should be viewed as unto Him first. However, there is a special way in which vocational ministry is good and a privilege to do.
It is not the most glamorous or materially prosperous way of living. And it shouldn’t be! Eli and his sons experienced a lot of consequences because they served God’s people for money! But there is an honor in it, and we should be excited if God calls one of our sons to serve Him in full time ministry.
As I say though, the way in which God exalts all of us is by using us in His great plan. Hannah rejoiced, not that her son would have a nice house, or a nice family, a good-paying job, or even that he was a nice guy. Hannah rejoiced to see her son, the son that God had given her, serving the Lord.
Her song of praise revealed what really mattered to her.
Conclusion
Some of you, I know the challenges and even the heartaches that you face. Some, I am sure I do not know. This kind of perspective on disappointment is not a popular one. And I admit, it is not an easy one to accept. But I think there is a reason that “Antidepressant prescriptions more than tripled between 1998 and 2018…” (British Journal of General Practice)
Part of being able to process our grief is understanding its part in God’s grand plan. Through Hannah’s struggle with infertility, God brought Samuel, the prophetic priest-judge, who would anoint King David. The very throne that Samuel established is the one that the King of Kings will reign on for eternity.
Mom, those thankless diapers that you change find their meaning in God’s grand story. Dad, those long hours and exhausted mornings, they matter because of God’s great plan. Those tears that just don’t seem to stop. Those dreams that were shattered. Those longings that just make you feel empty. They are a part of God’s plan to make you like Jesus and draw you to Himself. So don’t waste your disappointment.
Let me leave you with two ways of application.
Pray because God hears you.
Take time to pray. This year we will be doing so as a church. Make those a priority. And make time for personal prayer. There is no magic recipe. Sit down, remind yourself of Who God is, pray according to His will, and pour your heart out.
Serve because God exalts you.
The highest honor in life is to serve God. It is in serving Him that He exalts us. He never exalts us for our own glory. Love to give yourself, your time, your resources, and your effort to others because thats what it means to participate in God’s story.
I don’t think I could sum up what Hannah did and what God is calling us to do than to say it in the same way Jesus did:
Matthew 11:28–29 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Discussion Questions
A young twenty-something, recently moved to town, started working as a clerk at the general store. He came from nothing, really. Living almost his entire childhood barefoot, and hardly receiving any formal education. He began working at the age of seven. Rather than a mattress, he and his only sibling, a sister slept on a bed of cornhusks until the age of 10.
Despite his family’s poverty, he clung to the few books he had, developing his intellect through reading. Even more, he held fast to his sister, developing a bond through the bitter shared experiences. Tragically, he was even deprived of her when she passed just a couple years before his arrival. On his own, he set out to make a life for himself, gaining local popularity in that general store which was a communal center in that time. In a couple years from then, he ran for public office, eventually landing in the White House.
Abraham Lincoln’s story has inspired generations of young Americans to believe that even those from humble beginnings can achieve great things.
Each of the stories of miraculous births do not just share a miraculous nature. They also share a theme of God using the small, the downcast as a major part of the grandest story ever told. And we love these stories. We love to see the underdog triumph. But no one likes being the dog when he’s “under.”
And I don’t mean to make light of real pain. Numerous times, God gives us a window into the deep disappointment of individuals throughout history. Though, in Christ, God is writing this wonderful and massive story of victory and joy, He also includes loss and pain.
In God’s grand story, people experience disappointment.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 1 Samuel 1:1–3
Why is it that Hannah desires children so much? Why is it that people in general, especially women, experience this deep longing for children? I’m sure there are many good angles from which to answer this question, but a good biblical way to answer it is: because God made us to be like Him. God made us this way. In fact, He made us this way, in part, because He wants us to “Be fruitful and multiply!”
I think if I were to ask any Christian in here, did God make Hannah to desire a child so much in this way, maybe all would have no problem saying, “Yes, He did!” Not only that, did God sovereignly orchestrate that Hannah would live in a time where bearing children was even more integral to the identity and security of women? Yes, he did! Even more, did He give Hannah to a man who would also marry a horrible woman who would mock her for her barrenness? Yes, God has made Hannah to earnestly desire to bear and raise children and has placed her exactly where she was.
God has put Hannah in this position of disappointment. And even more, the text leaves no doubt.
...although the Lord had closed her womb. 1 Samuel 1:5
…because the Lord had closed her womb. 1 Samuel 1:6
God is directly involved in Hannah’s deepest disappointment and abject brokenness. I don’t know if there are any truths more difficult to wrap our minds and hearts around than this one.
No one wants to see someone else suffer. No one wants to see another person in pain. It is hard for us to imagine God closing someone’s womb when He himself has made them and told them to want children. And yet, the Bible makes no bones about it.
How do we respond to difficult situations like Hannah’s?
1. We try to ignore the painful circumstances that we cannot change.
We could bring up many problems with this kind of response, but at least one is this: our emotions of grief and bitterness are a ticking time bomb. We cannot suppress these emotions indefinitely. Yet, sometimes we think that it is better to just push through.
2. We attribute the circumstances to mere chance.
This is the more common one, I think, for Christians. We have such a hard time blaming God for causing us pain that we decide that he must not have done it. We might say that somehow God ALLOWS this pain, but not that He caused it. Doesn’t that seem a little more acceptable? We try to keep God as being control, but not responsible for my pain.
But let me give you two reasons why it is better for God to be totally in control.
1. If God is in control of my pain, then there is a purpose in it and it is not random.
No doubt, it is a tall task for us to tell someone who is pain that they are hurting because God intends it. It’s never easy to thing to address someone’s suffering. But I ask you, what is the alternative? Would you rather that your suffering not matter?
Friend, what if I told you that God is doing something really important when He brings suffering?
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2–4
We see this so obviously in the story of Hannah. You see, Peninah thinks that by tormeting Hannah she is winning. But just the opposite is happening, by her poking and prodding and kneading, she is driving Hannah exactly to where God wants her: to her knees.
“And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” 1 Samuel 1:6–7
Friend, I don’t think I can give everyone all the answers that they want for why such horrible and difficult things happen. They even happen to the best of people. How can I explain that?
Well, I don’t think I can give all the answers we would want. But I can give the one we need: God is intending all of these things in His kindness and His true goodness to accomplish His grand story. Your pain is a part of His story. If God is in control in this way, then your pain matters. Any alternative would mean that it is pointless.
If you have some familiarity with the story of the Bible, you know how God used Samuel. He was a man of exceptional godliness. In a time when people were doing whatever was right in their own eyes, priests were mocking God’s holiness by stealing his sacrifices, and kings rebelled against God’s direction, God rose up
This man had to come from godly parents who had been tested in the fire of trials. In Hannah’s infertility, we find the seed bed for spiritual revival in Israel. Can you imagine that?
I can’t promise that your financial difficulty, your unmet longings, your chronic illness, or your broken relationship will result in a national revival. But I can promise you this, it is a part of God’s glorious and grand story.
2. If God is in control of my pain, then He can help with it.
I want to look further at Hannah’s response. Look at her prayer again.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” 1 Samuel 1:10–11
In commenting on verse 11, Robert D. Bergen says this: “Her pain had made her a theologian.” With nowhere else to turn, Hannah goes to the Lord of Hosts, the only One Who can do something about her problem.
And this is another problem with ignoring our pain and just trying to grin and bear it: we never receive the greatest benefit. The things we desperately want to change, but can’t push us to the One Who can change it!
God hears the hurting who humbly seek his help.
And what does she ask for from this Lord of hosts? Note the humility of Hannah’s prayer. No expectation at all. Total trust in the goodness of the Lord. But look in the text what does Hannah ask for?
For God to remember her. This is an ancient concept of keeping something at the forefront of your mind and doing something about the situation. We have songs that use the same concept, “Don’t you forget about me.” Or, “Remember me.”
She wants God to notice her, in her trouble and not leave her in it.
And what does God do?
Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:19–20
God does exactly what Hannah asked for. We need to be careful not to presume that God will always give us exactly what we ask for. Sometimes He doesn’t do that. But we have no doubt about this: God hears us. God remembered Hannah. And He will remember us if we humbly seek His help.
The greatest blessing of painful situations is that they have a special and bittersweet way of driving us to God for His help. Is there anyone in human history that felt smaller than Hannah? A woman in the ancient east who could not bear children, mocked by another woman who did give their shared husband children. And yet, we have perhaps one of the best examples in Scripture of prayer during a devastating trial.
We have one more thing to learn from her example. Eli asks her, in almost comical ignorance if she is drunk.
Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” 1 Samuel 1:13–16
I haven’t been pouring drinks. I have been pouring out my soul. Friend, I don’t think we need a 1-2-3 step process of how to pray. We need to take the time to learn how to pour out our hearts before God.
Hannah wasn’t making demands or throwing a temper tantrum, complaining to God. She prayed based on Who God was, bearing her heart, her soul, which means the deepest parts of her. Her feelings and desires all opened up and confessed to God. This is the kind of prayer that God hears, and notice, there is no tension between earnestness and theology.
She knows Who God is (likely at least in part the result of godly leadership and discipleship from her husband Elkanah) and humbly leaves all of her pain at His feet. This is why it is so important to learn who God is. Dale Ralph Davis says it this way: "Believers use some of their best logic in prayer." Don’t let your theology end in your head. It is meant to come out in prayer.
God’s remembrance of Hannah didn’t start back at Ramah when she finally conceived.
And it happened, 1 Samuel 1:12
Some of the most pregnant (no pun intended) words in the Bible. The Bible does this often. It’s almost an ironically atheistic perspective. It just so happened that the spiritual leader of that time happened to be chilling near Hannah as she wept her heart out.
This was God at work, beginning the lifting up of Hannah and her family.
God honors the lowly by using them in his story.
This is what God does. God brings us low so He can lift us up.
Moses in the wilderness. David with the sheep. And most of all, Jesus. In Philippians 2, Paul describes how Jesus humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant. And He even goes so far as death in His humility and lowness. But only so that God would highly exalt Him.
But each one of these examples, including Hannah and Samuel, demonstrates that God does not exalt those who are low for their own glory. It is always for His.
“The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them. 1 Samuel 2:6–8
Which categories do you think Hannah thought she was in? Hannah rejoices because her son is exalted in service to God. For her, it is an honor and a privilege to give your son to ministry in God’s plan.
Parents, it a high honor for your child to serve the Lord in vocational ministry. Pastor Thomas often emphasizes (rightfully so) that all work is sacred. That all of our vocations and occupations are for God’s glory and should be viewed as unto Him first. However, there is a special way in which vocational ministry is good and a privilege to do.
It is not the most glamorous or materially prosperous way of living. And it shouldn’t be! Eli and his sons experienced a lot of consequences because they served God’s people for money! But there is an honor in it, and we should be excited if God calls one of our sons to serve Him in full time ministry.
As I say though, the way in which God exalts all of us is by using us in His great plan. Hannah rejoiced, not that her son would have a nice house, or a nice family, a good-paying job, or even that he was a nice guy. Hannah rejoiced to see her son, the son that God had given her, serving the Lord.
Her song of praise revealed what really mattered to her.
Conclusion
Some of you, I know the challenges and even the heartaches that you face. Some, I am sure I do not know. This kind of perspective on disappointment is not a popular one. And I admit, it is not an easy one to accept. But I think there is a reason that “Antidepressant prescriptions more than tripled between 1998 and 2018…” (British Journal of General Practice)
Part of being able to process our grief is understanding its part in God’s grand plan. Through Hannah’s struggle with infertility, God brought Samuel, the prophetic priest-judge, who would anoint King David. The very throne that Samuel established is the one that the King of Kings will reign on for eternity.
Mom, those thankless diapers that you change find their meaning in God’s grand story. Dad, those long hours and exhausted mornings, they matter because of God’s great plan. Those tears that just don’t seem to stop. Those dreams that were shattered. Those longings that just make you feel empty. They are a part of God’s plan to make you like Jesus and draw you to Himself. So don’t waste your disappointment.
Let me leave you with two ways of application.
Pray because God hears you.
Take time to pray. This year we will be doing so as a church. Make those a priority. And make time for personal prayer. There is no magic recipe. Sit down, remind yourself of Who God is, pray according to His will, and pour your heart out.
Serve because God exalts you.
The highest honor in life is to serve God. It is in serving Him that He exalts us. He never exalts us for our own glory. Love to give yourself, your time, your resources, and your effort to others because thats what it means to participate in God’s story.
I don’t think I could sum up what Hannah did and what God is calling us to do than to say it in the same way Jesus did:
Matthew 11:28–29 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Discussion Questions
- What are some ways that people respond to painful circumstances?
- What is it that we can be confident that God is doing through our disappointing circumstances? (see James 1:2-4)
- Describe Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 1:11. How can we follow her example?
- How can pain make us “theologians,” as Hannah’s did for her?
- Why is it that we might find it difficult or awkward to “pour our hearts out to God?” What are some steps we can take to overcome these things to improve our prayer lives?
- How does viewing ministry as God’s honor to us change the way a Christian approaches hidden, thankless tasks at church, at home, or at work?
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