A Heart Poured Out: 3 Lessons From The Story of Hannah

Hi friends! I'm excited to bring you a quick word today from 1 Samuel, specifically from the story of Hannah. Hannah is a biblical woman who has lived rent-free in my mind for a while now. She is a woman who represents longing, sorrow, hopelessness, and yet great faithfulness. Though, until recently, I'd never read her story for myself. Upon reading it I realized there was more to learn from this faithful woman's story, and I'd been imagining two things incorrectly this entire time.

LESSON #1: Comparison and competition between women breeds anguish.

1 Samuel opens with setting the scene. We are introduced to Elkanah and his two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. The scripture simply says, "Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children." 1 Samuel 1:2 My heart sank as I read that verse. And if you're a longtime reader of mine or a personal friend or if you've struggled with starting your own family, you know why.

Becoming a mother is an innate desire for many women, and if it is a desire unfulfilled it can become a source of grief like no other. But comparison to other women does not help our cause or our emotions. To Hannah's credit, comparison was only part of her story. Scripture reveals Peninnah provoked Hannah (taunted, teased, or humiliated her). Hannah was so grief-stricken that she wept and refused to eat.

From one waiting-woman to the next, do not let comparison control you. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into a competition with another woman or even a timeline you expected your life to abide by.

God is doing something unique and incredible in your life. He is equipping you for a very specific purpose, a very specific role in the kingdom. He is leading you along a path designed for you, and I pray that path leads you to your God-ordained husband and the specific baby you could only have at the appointed time. I am praying that prayer for myself as well.

Side note: Just last night I was considering do I really want to have children or am I just putting more pressure on myself in the wait for my husband? I thought, maybe I wouldn't enjoy motherhood as much as I think I would? Maybe I wouldn't be a good mom? Maybe I am better off never having children?

While there is a part of me that does wonder if I am a woman better off without children of my own, I also know I consider these things to comfort myself. Because without question, if I had to choose between having a child or never having children, I'd choose to have a child. Without question, if I were healthily and happily married, I'd like to try to get pregnant (not right now, but eventually). I know the desire to be a mother is on my heart. But sometimes when the waiting is so prolonged, we start to question our own desires and motives for those desires.

If you're a wife-in-the-waiting or mama-who-is-yet-to-be, it's okay to hold onto that desire. And know that, like Hannah, even when you don't have the perfect words, God hears you.

LESSON #2: God hears our silent prayers.

This is where I realized my imaginging of Hannah's story was actually incorrect. Scripture reveals that Hannah was "in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish." 1 Samuel 1:10 Her despair was so great that she was accused of being drunk by the priest (1 Samuel 1:14). This made me imagine Hannah acting as if she were drunk--rambling, yelling or speaking loudly, perhaps even moving clumsily. But this one verse reveals the truth. "Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." 1 Samuel 1:13

I now imagine Hannah on her knees in the temple, crying loudly and yet unable to speak. I've been there, on my knees in my prayer room. Sometimes all you can do is cry. You have words in your heart but no strength to speak them. Perhaps you are so angry at God you don't even want to speak to Him. I've been there too. But we can find hope in knowing that we don't have to bring God the perfect prayer.

God hears the words we are too weak to speak. We are not alone in our sorrow. We are not unseen. We are not unheard.

LESSON #3: Faithfulness is rewarded.

If you're familiar with the story of Hannah, you probably already know that God answered her prayer and gave her a son, Samuel. This is where we get the famous verse, "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition." 1 Samuel 1:27 But this isn't where the story ends. It is later revealed that Hannah had even more children. "Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble." 1 Samuel 2:5 This verse not only reveals how Hannah's heartbreak was redeemed, but how Peninnah's circumstances also changed.

Our circumstances are always changing.

That is why it is important for us to remember the words of Paul, to be humble in times of great joy and success and to be steadfast and faithful in times of great sorrow.

"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me." Philippians 4:12-13

There is a time for all things, and in all things Christ is our strength. I pray that your time is coming--to be a wife, to be a mother, to receive the petition you have prayed for. Keep praying my friend. Keep standing in faith for God hears your prayers.