"Eli would bless Elkanah . . . saying, 'May the Lord give
you children by this woman to replace the one she prayed for and gave
to the Lord.' . . . And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived
and gave birth to three sons and two daughters
(1 Samuel 2:20-21)."
God's Marketplace-Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) celebrates God's economic principles, "Jehovah sends poverty and wealth; God humbles and God exalts. God raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; . . . ." The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:28-29 "(God has) chosen the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not so that he may nullify the things that are, so that no human being may boast before God."
Hannah was "in the dust." Her husbands other wife had blessed the union with children. She was barren. Her co-wife ridiculed her, even as they worshiped in the holy place at Shiloh. She was considered a "nothing" in the eyes of her family and her people, because she was barren, her womb was deemed 'impoverished.' Yet Hannah prayed. Verse 1:12 tells us that she prayed so agonizingly and was so depressed that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. He said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." As people of faith we often too quickly pass judgement on people and mistake their painful behavior as some sort of moral failing. But God sees the heart.
Nevertheless in this patriarchal world of men, Hannah had to speak up for herself. She could not continue with a victim mentality. God would not allow her to continue to suffer in silence, mumbling without forming words, as if she was a nobody, notwithstanding her gender, Eli's question reminded her that she was an heir to the promise of Abraham. She made the commitment, that if God would grant her an offspring, she would dedicate him to God's service. By answering Eli, she also enlisted a powerful prayer partner. As she expressed herself, Eli responded the only way a woman and man of God are ever charged to respond to anguish and grief: with God's affirmation. "He answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked for."
Sometimes we just need to have one more person join us in prayer. We need one person who formerly criticizes us and misunderstood us to humble themselves away from self-righteous criticism and join us in prayer for what we seek. "Wherever two or three are gathered in God's name, God is in their midst." But everything we ask for, must also be that which we are willing to devote fully to God, even if it means that ultimately, it will not be ours forever, but always belongs to God. "When we ask anything, in faith, it is ours," but we must also remember, the earth and everything in it ultimately belongs to God, given to us for our use, our enjoyment, our fulfillment of our hopes and dreams.
These are the words of Jesus. They are good enough for me and for us. Why? Because God RAISES THE POOR FROM THE DUST AND LIFTS UP THE NEEDY FROM THE ASH HEAP." God is in the business of making something out of our nothing. The more impossible it seems, the more improbable, the more remote and distant the possibility, the greater the opportunity. All such challenges in our lives can become moments for us to discover that it is by God's power, God's strength, God's anointing us and pushing us forth into life, that we live and move and discover our true selves and God's divine plan.
Finally Hannah also demonstrates what the ancient Psalm proclaimed as a foundation for God's market plan, "The liberal soul grows fat."
Love, joy and peace.
Don
God's Marketplace-Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) celebrates God's economic principles, "Jehovah sends poverty and wealth; God humbles and God exalts. God raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; . . . ." The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:28-29 "(God has) chosen the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not so that he may nullify the things that are, so that no human being may boast before God."
Hannah was "in the dust." Her husbands other wife had blessed the union with children. She was barren. Her co-wife ridiculed her, even as they worshiped in the holy place at Shiloh. She was considered a "nothing" in the eyes of her family and her people, because she was barren, her womb was deemed 'impoverished.' Yet Hannah prayed. Verse 1:12 tells us that she prayed so agonizingly and was so depressed that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. He said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." As people of faith we often too quickly pass judgement on people and mistake their painful behavior as some sort of moral failing. But God sees the heart.
Nevertheless in this patriarchal world of men, Hannah had to speak up for herself. She could not continue with a victim mentality. God would not allow her to continue to suffer in silence, mumbling without forming words, as if she was a nobody, notwithstanding her gender, Eli's question reminded her that she was an heir to the promise of Abraham. She made the commitment, that if God would grant her an offspring, she would dedicate him to God's service. By answering Eli, she also enlisted a powerful prayer partner. As she expressed herself, Eli responded the only way a woman and man of God are ever charged to respond to anguish and grief: with God's affirmation. "He answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked for."
Sometimes we just need to have one more person join us in prayer. We need one person who formerly criticizes us and misunderstood us to humble themselves away from self-righteous criticism and join us in prayer for what we seek. "Wherever two or three are gathered in God's name, God is in their midst." But everything we ask for, must also be that which we are willing to devote fully to God, even if it means that ultimately, it will not be ours forever, but always belongs to God. "When we ask anything, in faith, it is ours," but we must also remember, the earth and everything in it ultimately belongs to God, given to us for our use, our enjoyment, our fulfillment of our hopes and dreams.
These are the words of Jesus. They are good enough for me and for us. Why? Because God RAISES THE POOR FROM THE DUST AND LIFTS UP THE NEEDY FROM THE ASH HEAP." God is in the business of making something out of our nothing. The more impossible it seems, the more improbable, the more remote and distant the possibility, the greater the opportunity. All such challenges in our lives can become moments for us to discover that it is by God's power, God's strength, God's anointing us and pushing us forth into life, that we live and move and discover our true selves and God's divine plan.
Finally Hannah also demonstrates what the ancient Psalm proclaimed as a foundation for God's market plan, "The liberal soul grows fat."
Love, joy and peace.
Don
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