I’ve really had some studies on Hannah in the last few weeks. It was our Sunday School lesson one week and then Pastor talked a little about her in his Mother’s Day sermon, but we really dug into the story yesterday in our evening Bible Study. We finished the book of Ruth two weeks ago and then we didn’t have any Bible Study last week because of the holiday, so we started 1 Samuel yesterday.
I kind of liked the story of Hannah before, but as a mother, I can say that I really enjoy it much more now.
Something that really struck me was how devoted she was to God. When she was done at the temple, she was no longer downcast. She had given her prayer request for a son to God completely. I don’t know if Eli’s blessing helped, but I do know that she trusted God to help her. Later, she gave her first son to God, not just as a dedication as we do with our children these days, but actually gave up her parental rights and gave Samuel to the temple as a toddler to be raised there. Her husband must have been just as devoted to the Lord to agree to this as well. I wonder how far away they lived, but probably far enough that they couldn’t make the trip more than once a year. I wonder how often Hannah thought about Samuel and imagined how he’d changed since she’d seen him last. She made sure she had his robe made for him. She was still a devoted mother. Giving up Samuel was probably the hardest sacrifice she ever had and God blessed her for it. She later had 3 more sons and 2 daughters.
Really, I can’t put everything I’m thinking on here. I just don’t have the words really. I just wanted to share a little of this and maybe you’ll open up your Bible to this story and study it yourself. I’d be happy for some comments from others.
It is totally different, but it reminds me of Steven Curtis Chapman’s attitude about giving up his daughter. We heard him speak on Focus on the Family the last couple of days. It was a very touching interview.