Spiritual Depth

Sep 8, 2023

We’ve heard many times about the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

We read in Genesis 22 that Abraham leads his only son up the mountain out of obedience to the Lord, all to prepare the killing of Isaac. And right when he is about to make that kill, the angel of the Lord appears and stops him saying,

“Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

- Genesis 22:12

Most of you are familiar with this story. But I want to share a similar story with you today about a woman named Hannah.

Hannah was an amazing woman of God. She trusted in the Lord with every fiber of her being. But Hannah was also barren. She so desperately wanted children and continued to submit that to the Lord in prayer. You see, while Hannah was a prayer warrior, she was also grieving the fact she had no children. She was a strong person of faith, some would say a spiritual giant of her time because of how deeply she trusted in the Lord. But, she was navigating despair and brokenness.

Picking up in 1 Samuel 1, verse 10 it says,

In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s 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….”

- 1 Samuel 1:10

Well, finally, Hannah became pregnant, and she bore a child and named him Samuel. And through her devout faith, she intended to keep her promise to the Lord. So, when Samuel was only a few years old, she took him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. Which is where the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle resided and left him there. Well, the story goes on to say that Samuel “grew up in the presence of the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:21).

But could you imagine giving such a personal sacrifice? She loved Samuel like only a mother could, but she loved God more.

She prioritized prayer, worship, and obedience to the Lord; she deeply cared about her spiritual depth. And my prayer for us, family, is that we will, too!

That even in the biggest struggles in our lives, we, too, will give it to the Lord. Hannah took what may have very well been the biggest blessing in her life and gave it back to God. Do you know how secure and trusting in the Lord you have to be to do that? I believe she thought, “If God could do this for me once, He could do it for me again.” And so, she demonstrated her trust in His plan, and he gave her 5 more children! In fact, when Samuel grew up, he went on to do amazing things for the Kingdom of God. He changed an entire nation and lived a life of servanthood and obedience. But Hannah went first and modeled that for Samuel.

Family let’s be men and women of God that are so strong in our faith that we trust God with every fiber of our being. Maybe you identify with Hannah’s story because you’re having issues with fertility or you’re simply waiting on God for something you’ve been praying about for years!