Hannah

Have you ever received something, and you know deep down inside, it could only be God’s doing?  It’s like there was no other way you could have gotten it…except by the grace of God alone.  

I love keeping a prayer journal, because it gives me the opportunity to remember how raw my feelings were at the time of my need. Then, to see a prayer answered days, months, or even years later…all I can say is, “It was all God!”.

Hannah was a young woman who expressed her true feelings to God while at the temple. Her feelings were so deep that the words couldn’t even leave her lips.  The priest even thought she was drunk!  Oh, the pain she must have felt. 

There are days we feel like Hannah, right?  The words just don’t come out - it’s too painful.  But God hears those prayers just like He heard Hannah’s prayer.  She wanted a child so badly and God granted her request.  It was all God!  Hannah had promised to give her child back to the Lord if she was given a baby. As soon as Samuel, her son, was weaned, Hannah kept her word.  How difficult a choice, yet how peaceful she must have felt.

I am amazed at how Hannah was faithful to what she promised.  We often ask God for a miracle, but quickly forget the promises we made Him.  We serve a good God, who knows our weaknesses and our unfaithfulness.  Yet, having a grateful heart and giving back to God what truly belongs to Him is essential…our children, our finances, our lives.  

May Hannah’s response be ours as well, “So, now I give him to the Lord…”.  There is no safer place than in the arms of our Father.  Take an inventory of your answered prayers.  Have you dedicated to God those things you deem most important to you?  Every part of our lives that is given back to Him can flourish more than we can ever imagine. 

~Betsy