"You can do more in my waiting than in my doing I could do."- Bethany Dillon
I am slowly, but surely, falling in love with Hannah's story in (1 Samuel Chapter 1-2) Every where I turn these days it seems I am hearing about Hannah. Even today as I was listing to a sermon from Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church ,that he preached on Mother's Day, I grinned when he asked everyone to turn in their Bible's to (1 Samuel 1:1). He was going to be preaching on the story of Hannah. Of course he was! Most people if they know anything about the story of Hannah know about her crying out to the LORD to give her a son and how the LORD heard her cries and granted her a son, who she named Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20). But, that is not why I have begun to fall in love with this story. I was captivated when I looked at the bigger picture God was painting. Finding beauty in the wait comes when you realize and chose to believe and trust that God has the plan. I want to briefly share with you what I have seen in looking at Hannah's and Samuel's story.
Samuel had a destiny. Eventually there was going to come a day when the LORD would call upon Samuel to go and anoint the new King over Israel who was David (1 Sam 16:1-13). David would become known as the man after God’s own heart and from his line would come the Messiah Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior (Matt 1:1-17). God had a plan. God knew why Hannah was having to wait. Hannah didn't know why. All she knew was that in that moment she had a deep longing and desire that seemed to go unmet year after year. God knew their was a purpose. He saw every tear and heard every cry. I can imagine the Lord whispering in the moments when Hannah cried out to the Lord
"Baby girl, there is something the wait is for!" He heard her cries, he knew the desires of her heart. He granted those desires in His timing, and way, because His ways are higher. Hannah just wanted a baby, God was thinking about our Salvation and the Redemption story that He was writing! He knew the story had to unfold just the way it did for a reason. Samuel had to be born when he was...not before or after!
I am sure it was hard for Hannah to be provoked by her rival year after year. It probably was very painful for Hannah to watch her rival get what she so desperately desired. On top of that Peninnah(Hannah's husband Elkanah, other wife) was mean and nasty about it. I have no doubt in my mind that Hannah cried out to the LORD for years upon years leading up to the one we read about in Scripture. But, it wasn’t until that moment, when the time was just right, did the Lord open her womb. If you keep reading you will see that not only did God give her one son, Samuel, but she eventually gave birth to three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21). God blessed her above and beyond what she had asked for.
I met with a friend of mine this past Friday for coffee. We are going through Beth Moore's book
Breaking Free. As I read through the book that week the opening verse for one of the chapters was Isaiah 64:4. For whatever reason I had never read that verse before--which I found strange since I quote 1 Cor 2:9 all the time, because it's one of my favorite verses. But, Isaiah says it a little different that Paul. Isaiah 64:4(MSG) says
"Since before time began no one has ever imagined,No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for him"(emphasis mine). I just thought about it all day Friday and throughout the weekend.
There was a much bigger story going on that Hannah could not see in that moment. All she knew was she had a desire. She brought that desire to the LORD and poured out her heart before Him ,for what I am sure felt like the millionth time about the same ole' thing. But...that time was different. Sometimes when waiting on a true desire of our hearts to be met there can be a temptation to think that God is withholding. But in reality, sometimes God is waiting too! Waiting for the PERFECT time!
Just this evening I was talking to one of our senior girls( from FBC Canton) at the Pillars Girls Ministry leader dinner who had just graduated from High School. I was sharing with her what God had been teaching me through the story of Hannah. Then this imagine came into my mind when talking about how God closed Hannah's womb. Sometimes God closes doors and seems to put a dead bolt on them simply so that when he does open up that door He is the ONLY ONE who get the glory! He is the only one who could have opened that door. I don't want anyone to get a false since of hope,but do not think that just because God closes a door He is not perfectly capable of opening it back up. He just might have closed it and sealed it shut for a reason so that when he does "open your womb" per-say it will be a (Isaiah 64:4) moment. It will be glorious,and He will be the one getting all the praise!!! There is beauty in the wait. You just have to look for it!
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