Tears, songs, and a husband

Today we went to Redeemer Church in Manhattan.  The pastor (Tim Keller) spoke on the story of Hannah...it was amazing and I wanted to share my notes with you.

1 Samuel 1:4-20(read it)

In Hebrew times having children was very important to their society.  It meant not only the survival of a family but economic and social survival.  For example, the more children you had, the more hands you had to help with the family trade.  If you had no children not only was your family in jeopardy of dying out but it was socially shameful to be barren.  Hannah's heart was so broken.

Hannah's rival (Peninnah) was constantly taunting her...verse 7 says that it would get so bad that Hannah would weep and not eat.  Can you imagine Peninnah's glory over Hannah, the pride she must have felt knowing that she had bore her husband children.  Even though Hannah was her husband's favorite and had his love, this could never make up for being barren.  Bearing your husband a child was the highest form of love you could ever offer him.  Now Elkanah was a pretty great guy.  He loved her anyway...He comforts her tears and says to her "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"....thats right ladies there is the awww factor.  But these two people (Peninnah and Elkanah) represent more than just a rival and a lover.

Peninnah represents culture.  How Hannah valued what her culture said was valuable rather than what God finds valuable.  Then you have Elkanah saying hey love me, put your worth in me, depend on me, I love you.  Hannah has bought into this superficiality so long that she is numb.  However the next thing Hannah does is so beautiful.  She stands up in the middle of the room (people think she is drunk) and just starts praying to God. "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servants misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."  Hannah is finally ignoring and sick of the lies around her and goes straight to the Lord with her burdens. She is surrendering to him...knowing that he might not give her what she desires, but she finds peace and rest in the Lord's arms.

So lets think about our culture for a second.  How often do we listen to the Peninnah's  in our culture...like you have to look a certain way, act a certain way, or meet the worlds superficial standards to be accepted.  I know women have a hard time with this lie because I am one and just because I love Jesus doesn't mean I don't believe that junk every now and then.  It is a constant battle for us...im not pretty enough, not skinny enough, oh well if I could just look like her, or have those clothes, or lose this much weight than I will be accepted.  Or how bout those Elkanah's in our culture...where we rely on something that will only fail rather than an unchangeable, unshakeable God...like the opposite sex...let me depend fully on the love of my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend...or the love of my parents or friends...Any human relationship, no matter how great it is will fail us at some points...we are human and that is just how it goes...or what about alcohol, drugs, school work, our jobs, our ministry...seriously anything that we depend more than Christ.  Who are we to think that any of this wordlyness can ever compare to the love, security, and fulfillment we can find in the Lord.

Hannah is an amazing and unlikely example for us to follow.  She ignores the sillyness around her...stands up and runs to the Lord.  She doesn't run to her husband or her best friend saying oh woe is me I can't have kids...but she comes to the Lord, her true HUSBAND, first and crys out to him.  And he hears her, he meets her where she is...that is so amazing...to be met by the Lord...safe...and comforted.  She turns from selfishly wanting a child for her own benefit to wanting a child for the Lord, and God honored her and himself in that...and that is something to learn from.

Now God does eventually give her a son and Hannah rejoices (1 Samuel 2:1-11)...and commits him to the Lord just as she promised.

If we go to God first...as our priority...as our husband...the sufferings we have in this world might not be so sufferable.  Suffering is never meaningless...God has used the weakest moments in my life to produce amazingess through him.  Keller said "God does his greatest works at your greatest innability"...we are all human...we all fall short...but the amazing thing is that God knows that and yet he still desires us despite all of our short comings...and he wants to meet us where we are...in our deepest sufferings, pain, brokeness, and sinfulness.  Your husband is waiting!

"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD."Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.For you will spread out to the right and to the left;  your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities."Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;he is called the God of all the earth.The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God."For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back."

~Isaiah 54:1-7