What it is like to have a desire met by God
Have you been asking the Lord for something for a long time? Do you believe your Christian life will be fulfilled upon receipt of it?
You and Hannah have something great in common. The Lord has given you a desire that only He can fulfill. He does that with each and every one of us so that we can see clearly what He desires for us. Let’s see how He lead Hannah to Himself and fulfilled His desire for her.
Our Biblical Ground Work: 1 Samuel 1-6
Around 1200 B.C., in the mountains of Ephraim, lived a man named Elkanah. He had two wives and loved one more than the other, Hannah (sound familiar). Pininnah, his second wife, began a rivalry with Hannah because Hannah was barren.
Elkanah brought his family from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. On this particular year Hannah was at her very lowest emotionally and brought her petition to the Lord at the tabernacle. She couldn’t eat and cried bitterly. Her husband was of no consolation and Pininnah was torturing her because of her barrenness.
She went to the tabernacle to pray, alone, to the Lord of Hosts to beg Him for a child, a son. “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” 1 Samuel 1:11
The Lord was indeed gracious to her and she became pregnant with a son. She cared for him and weaned him. She brought him to the tabernacle of God and gave him to the service of the Lord when he was approximately three years old. She continued to care for him by bringing him clothing every year. This child grew in favour of God and man. His name is Samuel, the greatest prophet to God in all of history.
Our Biblical Life Lesson: As His desire for you grows, so will your desperate need for Him.
There is nothing that we desire that the Lord has not put into our heart to desire. He gives us a deeper desire for it and the eyes to see that only He can provide it. He then rewards us with it and many more after that. Hannah was rewarded with three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21) for going to the Lord.
Her great work for the Lord has never been forgotten. Hannah’s name means grace and it was God’s grace that brought her to the tabernacle to pray. And His grace that gave her peace as she walk away from Shiloh. He was with her all long. Using Pininnah’s chastisement to want Samuel more. Using her husband to drive her to the tabernacle to pray. Using Eli to bless her.
Every bit of it was God’s grace. I don’t know where you are at today but God is behind it all. What are your desires? Is everything happening right now driving you to desire it more? Come to the throne and boldly ask for it.
I invite you to come in deeper with me in The Bible Gals community this week as we learn the Biblical Power Tools for valuing our integrity while valuing people.