Reflections based on 1 Samuel 1:12–20.

We are continuing to look at Hannah’s life this week. I think it would have been totally understandable if Hannah’s soul had been completely overtaken by bitterness. After all, she was being ridiculed by those around her, God hadn’t answered her prayers and even the priest thought badly of her – he asked if she was drunk! But she resolutely held her ground with God. Although troubled, she kept going back to Him. And through doing this, she seemed to push through the suffering and reach a new place of calm. Look at verses 15–18. She had been pouring out her soul to God in grief, but suddenly she gets up and eats, no longer full of sadness. We aren’t told what happened; whether what Eli the priest said to her encouraged her and/or, in her honest outpouring of her heart, she came to a place of leaving the pain with God. I would like to suggest that she learned the lesson of true humility – giving up her right to understand why she was having to wait. 

A few years ago I attended a women’s day with a speaker that challenged us on this very point. Do we cling to what we think is our ‘right’, demanding God give us answers and allowing our hearts to grow cold and bitter as a result? Or do we set our minds to hope in God whatever our circumstances, and lay down our rights to know the reasons behind any delay and disappointment? That day I learned to take a very honest look at my motivations, desires, hopes and dreams – and the self-pitying attitude that can appear at unhelpfully regular intervals. I hope that I, too, can learn to be as persistent, honest and humble as Hannah.

For prayer and reflection: God there is so much to learn from the life of Hannah. Please help me to lay down my rights to understand everything that happens to me, and to trust You always.