The Unwavering Persistence of Hannah
Have you ever wanted something so badly that it consumed you? This thing was so important to you that you talked with God about it day and night. Your faith couldn’t allow you to believe this thing wouldn’t come to pass regardless of what anyone else said about it.
Hannah was like that.
Hannah
My church Bible study group has been studying the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. It is a fascinating book showing the transition of God's people from being led by him to being led by a human king. It wasn’t a smooth transition nor did it happen overnight. It is in 1 Samuel that we are introduced to Saul, David, and Goliath. But as fascinating as their stories are, I have been coming back again and again to sweet Hannah.
When I quickly read through Hannah’s story the first time, I am embarrassed to admit that I failed to see much significance. I quickly moved on with my study group. But Hannah wouldn't leave my mind. Reading it again (slowly and prayerfully this time), the Holy Spirit revealed new aspects of Hannah's testimony that I had not considered before.
The Power Of Our Story
When we give our testimony of what God has done in our lives, it always blesses someone else. All too often we think we are the only ones to struggle or go through this or that. But the truth is, through our honest testimony others can see that we all have issues we must deal with. Our testimony of God's work in our lives shows others how we handled things and how God moved through the situation. That encourages, inspires, and helps build faith; all priceless gifts from above!
Hannah's testimony caught me off guard because I didn’t expect to relate to her. I have not had to pray for or struggle to conceive a child. I don’t have a close relative who taunts and torments me. I’ve not had to compete with another for my husband’s attention. Nor have I felt led to turn my toddler over to the church to be raised as a priest. Yet, God put Hannah in his holy Bible for a reason or it wouldn’t be there. It was these thoughts that the Holy Spirit used to prompt me to take another look at Hannah’s story.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Hannah's Testimony
For years, Hannah suffered from a medical issue; infertility. Even though she had a husband who adored, provided for, and protected her, being unable to conceive a child affected every area of her life. To make matters worse, she had a tormentor named Peninnah (her husband’s second wife) who took great delight in reminding Hannah that she was less then. Because they lived in the same home, it would have been impossible for Hannah to get away from Peninnah for long.
Month after month, year after year Hannah prayed and believed. Yet she continued to endure the physical evidence that God had chosen not to bless her yet. As a result of this unanswered prayer, Hannah’s suffering drew her closer to God. But one day Hannah had reached her limit. She sought refuge in the temple where she determined to fast and pray about her situation. There, she made a vow to God that when He allowed her to get pregnant, she would give her son back to Him to be raised in the Temple and used for kingdom work all the days of his life.
When God's timing was right, Hannah became pregnant, named her child Samuel, and fulfilled her promise to God giving Him glory and honor and her child.
Our Take-aways
Let's look at the life lessons Hannah has to teach us through her testimony.
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
Back in Hannah's day, it was considered so shameful to be barren that your husband could divorce you because of it. A barren woman would be treated harshly by the community because having children was considered a blessing. To not have little blessings running around, it was assumed God was openly punishing you for sin in your life.
Today, many in the church still feel that if you have unanswered prayers that it is proof that God is displeased with you. But as we can see from Hannah (and many others in the Bible), sometimes our desires are in line with God’s plans they just might not be in line with His timing.
Peninnah was relentless in tormenting Hannah. Isn’t that just like Satan to relentlessly torment us? Maybe Peninnah was jealous and Satan was feeding that jealousy. Perhaps that was why she was verbally lashing out at Hannah all the time. Yes, Peninnah could give her husband children but it wasn't her that Elkanah loved. It was Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5). That would sting!
It could be that God gave Hannah the discernment to understand all this. Having insight into someone's behavior doesn't make it hurt less but we can choose to see their issue with the gifts of compassion and mercy. Besides, our fight isn’t against flesh and blood but against the evil ones (Ephesians 6:12). When we choose to respond in a godly way, God will give us the ability to endure.
Sometimes Sickness is From God
Hannah had an ongoing medical condition (unable to get pregnant). When we are suffering, especially from a physical ailment, how many times do we automatically assume it is the devil and begin rebuking? How often do we assume the issue is something we are (or aren't) doing to cause the issue and we begin to do things to control our environment and clean up our temple?
Sometimes what we see as an attack from the enemy is actually a God-thing. Hannah understood this. The Bible tells us twice (verses 1:5-6) that God closed up Hannah’s womb. Thankfully, her relationship with the Lord was strong and she chose to stand in faith on what she knew despite what her situation declared. That is faith we need to take note of! She had faith in who her God was and had no doubt where her little blessing would come from.
Answered Prayer Is In God's Timing
Hannah reached a point that she couldn’t take things the way they were any longer and was determined to do something about it. She didn’t go off on her own trying to fix it with potions and old wives tales but sought the Lord who blessed her with a plan and the faith to implement it.
You just don’t reach that deep level of faith in God overnight. This is evidence that Hannah spent a great deal of regular time with God.
Because she was as human as we are, I’m sure she prayed not just for a child, but for Peninnah to stop driving the verbal knife so deep. Maybe she even prayed that her husband wouldn’t be so clueless. We don’t know but we do know that in spite of her faith and diligent prayers it looked like God had closed his ears to Hannah's pleas.
But God isn’t deaf to the cries of His people. How often God must listen to our prayers and reply, "Not yet my child. Soon." and we are so caught up in ourselves that we can't hear him?
God had a greater purpose in closing Hannah's womb. In His time, He intended to further His kingdom through Hannah. But God had not revealed that to Hannah and she had to stand in faith just like we do. God sees all things, including the big picture. We see from a narrow viewpoint (tunnel vision) so we miss a great deal. There comes a point in each of our lives that we have to make the decision…fully trust God or not. Hannah chose to fully trust God.
Others Won't Always Understand
As much as he loved her, Elkanah didn't understand the depth of Hannah's anguish. Peninnah didn't understand. Even when Hannah sought refuge in the temple to pray and seek God's face, Eli the priest didn't understand.
Maybe because being barren was considered an open sign of God's disfavor, we don't read about anyone in Hannah's life who understood what she was going through. Perhaps you can relate because you are going through something in your own life that nobody else understands. It is hard, isn’t it?
I believe there will always be times others aren't supposed to be there for us. If they did, perhaps we would turn to them for comfort and encouragement. Those are not bad things and we are to be there for each other. But maybe God allows you to go through tough times "alone" so that you turn to Him. Maybe it is His voice he wants you to hear during your battle.
We don’t read that she defended herself against Peninnah but when Eli the High Priest accused her of something that was not true (being drunk), she respectfully defended herself. We don’t need to be doormats but we do have to show respect and kindness even if it is not shown to us.
Friend, we will always have accusers who get the facts all wrong. It’s up to us to choose how we will handle things because ultimately we are responsible to God for our words and actions; not for the behavior of others even if they have pushed us over the edge.
Take It To The Lord In Prayer
It is fascinating to me how Hannah handled her situation. I'm sure being barren wasn't the only undesirable situation in her life because problems are a part of life. I'm also sure there were times she was overwhelmed with emotion.
Why does this fascinate me? Because, like everyone else, I struggle not to let my emotions rule. Sometimes they get the better of me. Plus, we live in a society where emotions dominate. If you feel it, do it. If you want it, declare you deserve it…you know what I am talking about. There is nothing new under the sun so if society is that way now, it was probably that way back in Hannah’s day too.
Don’t we all know that one person who makes sure everyone around them gets to share in their misery ("If momma ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy" or "Happy wife, happy life")? Sound familiar? Emotions are so powerful but they are never to rule over us or be used as a weapon on those around us.
Hannah didn't scream back at Peninnah or Eli. To be honest, there was a time I probably would have. But not Hannah. She didn’t even get angry with God! She did the right thing by turning to prayer and fasting to pour it all out to God. Perhaps it was "easier" to take it to the Lord in prayer because she knew who her healer was and who held all the answers. She also knew God as her protector and defender (she called him the Lord of hosts because God fights for us!).
But that is not all. When God answered Hannah's prayer, she went back to Him thanking and praising Him for all that He had done. She didn’t grab her gift and gleefully run the other way.
What Are You Willing To Give Up?
The last point that struck me was that as she prayed, Hannah surrendered all to her Lord as she made her vow. She promised God that she would give her male child back to Him to be used in Kingdom service all the days of his life. When I first read that, it took me by surprise. It seemed Hannah was attempting to strike a deal with God; "You do this for me and I will do that for you." That just didn’t sit right in my spirit. As I dug deeper, I discovered why.
Because here's the thing. Hannah had no reason whatsoever to make a deal with God. The baby would have automatically been dedicated to God as a Levite. Levites were eligible to be priests. That alone would have been a blessing.
What Hannah was talking about was above and beyond that. She was promising God that in addition to being a Levite, she would see to it that her child was separated and raised in the temple. Oh, my glory that would have been hard! There is no way Hannah wouldn't have been aware of the corruption taking place in the temple because it appears to have been common knowledge. It would have taken tremendous faith to do as you promised God and leave your child to be raised by corrupt leaders in the temple.
In addition, it seems Hannah also put herself under a Nazarite vow (Numbers 6:1-21) until the day she turned Samuel over to the High Priest. Again, that would not have been easy. She already lived in a community of those who didn’t understand her decisions. There is no way they would understand giving your child away. But Hannah drew strength from the Lord. She knew who held her future and her child’s future.
Are you, in faith, willing to give up your time and pleasures for something that means more to you than those things? Think carefully about that because God doesn’t take our vows lightly. If you speak it, you better be prepared to do exactly as you declared. Because God expects it (Matthew 5:37).
CONCLUSION
Hannah was physically barren but spiritually prosperous. How often are we spiritually barren but think we are blessed because we are physically prosperous? Are you as guilty as I am of equating physical blessings with spiritual blessings?
Sometimes, our desire for something can consume us. We don’t always understand or know when a particular desire began to stir in our soul. At any time Hannah could have given up and declared it was just too unfair and too hard. But she didn’t. And we can’t either.
If you have a burning desire in your soul, seek God and ask if it is of Him. Ask that if it is not of Him that he would take the desire away. If it is of God, the seed will grow and develop. Because God wants us to live by faith, we won’t always know what His plans are (and He is not obligated to keep us informed). But if it is of God, in His timing the growing seed will come to fruition "giving birth" and God will bring forth something absolutely amazing just as He did in the lives of Hannah and Samuel!