This passage is a delightful cameo of the Kingdom of God
We see the deep sadness of Hannah at being childless, while
her husband’s other wife has children, and taunts her of her “failure”. She bears it all with simple dignity, and
throughout it all she holds on to her faith, continuing to go “up to the House
of the Lord”, even though she knows that even there (and maybe especially there)
she will face her rival’s taunts as well.
Even Eli the priest accuses her of being drunk as she prays to God.
And yet…..God is there in her suffering and hears her
prayer. She bears a child, the
consummation of her hopes, dreams and prayers.
And yet…. she remains faithful to God, dedicating her son, the very
object of all her thoughts and dreams over the years, to God. And God honours that by raising up Samuel,
one of his greatest prophets to Israel
The challenge for us is to show that same faithfulness,
regardless of the “headwinds” we face in life, to meet them with the same grace
and quiet confidence in God and his faithful provision, and to remember him in
both the good and the bad times, because he cares for us in them all.
We know nothing more of Hannah but if each of us were to be
as faithful and gracious as her, how different the world would be and how much
more God’s Kingdom would be a reality in our world today….There’s our challenge.
(member of the PCC)