1 Samuel 2:1-11

The other day I was reading from 1 Samuel and I came across a few points I’d like to share…

The first chapter in 1 Samuel ends with Hannah giving her son to the Lord as to thank Him for blessing her with a son she had been praying for. Chapter 2 then starts off with her praising God for His goodness and faithfulness:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord! Oh, how the Lord has blessed me! Now I have an answer for my enemies, as I delight in Your deliverance. No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God.” – vs. 1-2

Hannah praised God at probably the lowest point in her life. She had to give up the son she had JUST received – how devastating!! Can any of you mothers imagine what that must have been like? The point I want to make is that this is how we should be. We should never get so attached to anything (lifestyles, people, possessions, etc.) that we wouldn’t be able to give them back to the Lord. If you think about it, we wouldn’t have these things in the first place without Him.

Let’s take another look at the last line in verse 2 – “There is no Rock like our God.”
Hannah chose to stand on God as her Rock while she was going through this difficult time. And because she did this, her footing was secure and she was satisfied in Him! :)

Verse 6 goes on to say, “The Lord brings both death and life; He brings some down to the grave but raises others up.”

Hannah recognizes this Truth and, full-well knowing she was one of the people who God brought death to (in a way, as she felt sorrow, pain, and went through hardship), she still praises God for His goodness. I wonder if we could do this on a regular basis. I think about how often we have blamed God in the past when He brings us to a season of hardship. But is this really the best response? Wouldn’t we grow a whole lot more in our faith and build our character if we learned to praise Him during our pain and trust that He has our best interest?

I pray that we will learn to thank God in the midst of our storms – not because we are in pain, but because we know He will get us through the storms and bring us closer to Him as a result. May the Lord remind you of the strong Rock that He is and always help us stand firmly on His foundation.

God bless!
<3 Shannon

“Holy and Anointed One” – Skillet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLucwS41uDI