Thursday, June 16, 2011

Reflections of Hanna and Samuel

 "9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. 11 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, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
 9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. 11 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, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,[e] an ephah[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there."
Excerpts from 1 Samuel 1

When my wife and I wanted to have children, we thought everything would go according to our plan, but it took 7 years and a miscarriage, and then a difficult pregnancy before Peri was given to us. Children are a gift from the Lord, and as parents we are but stewards, whose job is to train our children up, to help prepare them as we hand them the baton to continue to run this race. Today my wife and I are dropping off our daughter, Peri, at International House of Prayer- KC's Shiloh Retreat Center, as she begins a 6 week worship leader's internship program as her gifts will be sharpened. The Lord dropped that on my spirit as a parallel to Hanna dropping off Samuel at Shiloh, where she had previously asked the Lord for a child, as he embarked on his ministry.
As we leave her in the care of others tonight, we look forward with great anticipation. God is full of surprises, He is more than able to perform and perfect His work in us, when we say, "Here I am, Lord"

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