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God’s Intervention


             In 1 Samuel chapter one, we meet a lady named Hannah.  She wanted to have a baby, but was unable to and, in those days, that was a big problem.  Women were valued for their ability to produce children so that the family line would carry on.  If you could not have children, it was considered a curse. 

            So Hannah prays for God’s help.  In fact, she promises that, if she is blessed with a baby boy, she would give him back to the service of God.  In due time, her prayer is answered.  She has the baby and names him Samuel which, in Hebrew, sounds like the phrase “God heard me” (verse 20).

            Now, I have always thought of this chapter as “the story of Samuel’s birth”.  However, re-reading it, I noticed that Samuel really is not the focus of this passage.  Look at these references: “Worshipping the Lord Almighty (verse 3)… Priests of the Lord (3)… The Lord closed her womb (5 and 6)… Prayed at the house of the Lord (7)… The Lord’s temple (9)… Prayed to the Lord (10)… Addressed the Lord Almighty (11)… Vow to the Lord (11)… Praying to the Lord (12)… Pouring out her soul to the Lord (15)… Worshipped before the Lord (19)… The Lord remembered her (19)… Because I asked the Lord for him” (20).

            Fourteen times in seventeen verses “The Lord” is mentioned.  Not only is he mentioned, he is actively doing something.  God is not a bystander in this story.  He is involved, listening and, eventually, he intervenes.  This is not a chapter about “The birth of Samuel”.  Rather this is a chapter about “What God was doing in the life of Hannah”.

            We do ourselves a great disservice when we convince ourselves that God is not really at work in our lives.  When we live as if we are on our own and that God is a far way off somewhere, we lose the blessing that we are supposed to have.  The fact is that we serve a God who knows us and sees us.  In speaking of God’s closeness to us, Jesus says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid!” (Luke 12:7).

            Hannah did not let her pain and struggle make her bitter and she did not give up on her faith in God.  Though she could not see it at the time, even in her pain, God was writing a beautiful ending to her story.

            God did an amazing thing in Hannah’s life. 

            What can he do in yours?

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