A Daily Purpose

Bible Study & Devotional Day 127

Written By: Torrie Slaughter

Guiding Scriptures: 1 Samuel 1:11 ‘And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

🔴 A Good Return (Updated from 3/19/2018)

You made a promise to the Lord. You prayed to ask Him to bless you and that if He allowed it, you would give back to Him. 1 Samuel 1:11 KJV.

WAIT, WHAT????

Isn’t the whole idea of praying for something and then receiving it- to keep it??? Why would anyone return a blessing? That’s counterintuitive! Or is it? Psalm 100:3 We do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God, and anything He allows us to have is a blessing from Him. Our choice is to acknowledge His mighty work and let Him guide us (1 Kings 3:9), or our blessing will curse us (Matthew 6:24)

Picking up at 1 Samuel 1:11, Hannah made a vow to the Lord. She promised God, if He took away her sorrow by giving her a son, she would dedicate that child to Him. God answered her prayer, and she gave birth to a son.

1 Samuel 1:27-28 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.

The end of chapter one is nothing short of amazing. Hannah revealed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. She declared her affliction by giving it over to the Lord. Hannah was obedient to her vow of dedicating Samuel to God.

How many of us could be given such an incredible blessing and then allow God to take over? Ah, that is a place to pause and feel the tension.

We say we trust God, and we want our material things from Him. But when it comes to children or very personal requests, why is that so hard?

Jesus prayed and asked God to bless the meager food. The portion was enough to feed thousands. -Luke 9:16

Isn’t being obedient and serving God part of our bigger purpose?

The void of not being able to birth a child along with the constant taunting of Peninnah may have been the push she needed to pray so sincerely at Shiloh.

Is it time to take your sorrows to God? Ask Him: how does my current situation align with your plan? Perhaps what is getting under our skin and causing heartache may be our given purpose.