Hannah’s pain 

We’ve been programmed to think that life should be filled with success. But the last time I checked, that’s not always the case. And the times when we really need to trust in Jesus with confidence aren’t the easy times. They’re the tough times.

So we’re going to spend some time with Hannah in the Old Testament to discover the secret of having a strong confidence in Jesus when the going gets tough.

On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb… Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:4–8)

What a terrible situation! You can read more in 1 Samuel chapter 1, but even this snapshot is enough to get an idea of Hannah’s distress. 

Here’s a woman who can’t have children, and who has a rival for her husband’s affections who can. Peninnah uses her fertility to rub salt into the wounds of the childless Hannah. And the final layer of shame is that back in those days, the thinking went something like this: if you were a good and godly person, God would bless you with many children. If you weren’t, He wouldn’t.

I’d like to suggest that the same thinking persists today. 

You and I don’t expect to have ‘Hannah moments’ in our lives, to find ourselves in rotten situations, because (we think)… well, surely God wants to bless me. And surely, if I’m living through a terrible time, something must be wrong in my relationship with God.

It’s that false logic that I would like to kick in the guts in this little series; this idea that I’m in God’s favour, because I’m being blessed; and I must have fallen out of God’s favour and out of God’s plan, because I’m going through this terrible patch. 

That’s a lie; a distortion from the enemy. The truth is the opposite. 

Because pretty much all the great things that God does are birthed out of times of trial.

LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS   

• Take a moment to think, really think, about your expectations for your life. Are you living out of the assumption that you should be successful? Why do you think that is?
• Write down some of the ways in which the world tells you and me that life is about success and striving for more. Where in your life do you feel this pressure the most?
• What is God telling you about these same areas of your life?
• We all go through hard times. Perhaps you’re in one right now! Read through Hannah’s story and ask God to open your heart to Him and show you what He’s birthing in you.