A Good Return

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

DO WHAT????

Isn’t the whole idea of praying for something and then receiving it to keep it??? Why would anyone return a blessing? What kind of craziness is that? Or is it…Psalm 100:3 KJV We do not belong to ourselves. Nope, we do not. We belong to God and anything He allows us to have is a blessing from Him. We can acknowledge that it came from God and allow Him to guide us with it or it can become a curse.

Picking up at 1 Samuel 1:11 Hannah made a vow to the Lord. She promised God, if He would take away her sorrow by giving her a son, she would dedicate that child to Him. Her prayer was answered and she had 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. What love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control Hannah displayed. She owned her affliction by giving it over to the Lord. She knew He answered her prayer when she gave birth to Samuel, and she 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… pause right now and think about that. We say we trust God and we want our material things from Him, but when it comes to children why is that so hard? Under God’s watchful eye isn’t this better for our sons and daughters? Isn’t being obedient and serving God as part of our bigger purpose?

Although Hannah’s timing was off she felt pressured to give her husband a son. 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 take our desires and ask God if they align with His? Perhaps what is getting under our skin and causing us heartache may be our given purpose.

~Torrie

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