Hi again! It’s me, Hannah Parkerson, filling in for my mom this week. In this episode, we’re going to be looking into the story of Hannah and her struggle with waiting in the Bible. We’ll kick it off in 1 Samuel 1: 1-8.
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Transcription:
Guest Speaker: Hannah Parkerson
Hi, welcome to the Bible for Busy People. I’m Hannah, and this week I’ll be filling in for my mom, Erica. In this episode, we’re going to be looking into the story of Hannah and her struggle with waiting in the Bible. We’re going to be reading from 1 Samuel chapter 1: 1-8.
There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
3 Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. 6 So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
8 “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
I can only imagine the hurt Hannah endured and walk through in the Bible. The burdens that she was carrying must have been so heavy on her heart, but she was a woman of faith who did not give up. And for many years in my life, I have just idolized the desire of having a relationship with someone. I would become bitter towards God when everyone around me was happy and thriving in their relationship. And I’m a worship leader, and there are times where I don’t even want to sing because of the anger of unanswered prayers that just linger inside my heart. I wrestle with loneliness. I cry myself to sleep sometimes and wake up on my pillow drowned in my tears. And there are times where I would just go drive somewhere to pray, but no words would come out of my mouth. I would just sit there in absolute silence. And there are still moments where I asked myself, will I ever experience joy again? And I remember a time I was reading this chapter and came to this phrase,
“You have me. Isn’t that better than having 10 sons?”
And after I read that, I felt God saying to me, don’t I mean more to you than this? At that moment, I realized I really wasn’t putting God first in my life. I was always praying about getting what I wanted instead of just having a relationship with him. There is this song that has just been helping me through this season of my life called Nothing Is Wasted by Jason Gray, and I want to encourage you to go listen to it. The lyrics in music are so beautifully written and it just speaks volumes to my heart. And I want to let you know that God hears the hurt in your heart, even though you might not feel an answer that I completely understand. But in the silence, in the tears, he is doing something in your life and he does not waste anything. Don’t be afraid to just open your heart and be real with him. He isn’t afraid of what you’re going through and he can absolutely handle it without a doubt. There is nothing that is too big or small that you can bring to him, and God can bring beauty for ashes in your life, just like he did with Hannah in the Bible. In the end of her story, her prayer was answered. God gave her a son and she named him Samuel.
I don’t know what you may be walking through today, but I want you to keep believing and putting your hope and trust in him. And I know that phrase can be so overdone. I totally understand. God is a God who loves you so much. He wants the absolute best for your life. If we knew it was on the other side, then we wouldn’t learn to trust him. He’s cheering you on. Your story is not over. I want to close with the Bible verse from 1 Peter 5:7, which says,
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
I hope that this speaks to you today. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time!
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
