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Thursday, March 26, 2009

1. God Kills Several Birds W/ One Stone.

God Answers prayers! I love the fact that our God has such compassion & blesses those with faith! I felt like he heard Hannah's cry out to him (just like he hears ours), and blessed her because he not only loved her, but also because Hannah prayed with faith. I couldn't imagine not being able to bare children and thinking that God could somehow change his mind and allow me to do so. That definitely takes a lot of faith and Hannah had that when she pleaded with God. That is so awesome because he clearly answered!

Furthermore, I love how God also used the situation for his own glory! By blessing Hannah, she was given the opportunity to be a woman of integrity by keeping her promise to God; therefore, Samuel was later able to become one of the prophets.

2. Hannah's Integrity.

I admire Hannah's integrity. When she made the promise to God, and he answered her prayers, she had no idea that he would allow her to bare more children. For all she knew, Samuel could have been her only child. Yet, she followed through with her promise to God, and as soon as he was weaned, she brought him to Eli to be brought up to worship the Lord. I couldn't imagine not being able to raise a child that I had longed for for so long. Definitely takes a lot of integrity to follow through with that! What a great example of putting God first!

Weaned: to cause (a child or young animal) to become accustomed gradually to food other than its mother's milk, to cause to give up suckling; now, often, to cause to give up drinking milk from a bottle with nipple)


1Samuel 1:21-28
Hannah Dedicates Samuel
When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always."

"Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, "and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there."

4 comments:

Mitchel Thomas Gonzalez said...

Yes, God always has a reason for doing what he does. I guess the reason why this is amazing to us is because we are so use to people living their lives and making decisions with no purpose or reason. It's like watching a movie and seeing the plot unfold. Kinda like the story of Joseph and how all those things happened to him so that he would set aside food for the 7yr drought to come. Great insight Lisa, it’s cool to see God working in your heart as you read and understand His word. I’m looking forward to see how your story will unfold as well.

Teena Phamster said...

i am not a mother..but being an aunt is close enough to parenting. i have several nieces and nephews and i love them lots! i get to babysit once in awhile and it's so much fun...and when i give them back..i just miss them all the more. there is an emotional tug and attachment. having them for a day...feeding them, caring for them and nurturing them...it takes heart. when a mother has her child by her side for that amount of time..especially the first years, it is especially tough to let go. i love hannah's heart to trust and stick to her word. she is one of my favorite women in the bible.

Lisa Nguyen said...

Thanks Mitch. I agree. I love the fact that God has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. Everything happens for a reason. God is so thorough in his planning, it's amazing...

Tina, thanks for sharing about your relationship with your nieces & nephews. I too feel exactly the same way about mine so I can totally relate. I don't have kids, but wow, I couldn't imagine having any, much less giving up my nephews or nieces like that. Hannah definitely is a excellent example of integrity and trust in God. =)

Justin Seibel said...

Great job Lisa! Thanks for sharing.