Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Where Can I Go But To The Lord” – Monday, 1 September 2014 - Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:1-11

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Where Can I Go But To The Lord” – Monday, 1 September 2014 - Scripture: 1 Samuel 1: Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God
1-2 There once was a man who lived in Ramathaim. He was descended from the old Zuph family in the Ephraim hills. His name was Elkanah. (He was connected with the Zuphs from Ephraim through his father Jeroham, his grandfather Elihu, and his great-grandfather Tohu.) He had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not.
3-7 Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.
8 Her husband Elkanah said, “Oh, Hannah, why are you crying? Why aren’t you eating? And why are you so upset? Am I not of more worth to you than ten sons?”
9-11 So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God’s Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:
Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,
If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
By giving me a son,
I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.
“Where Can I Go But To The Lord” by William a. Roberts
That is the cry of a woman in deep distress. In a culture where the ability to bear children carried social, emotional, and theological significance, Hannah was lacking. The other woman in the household, who had borne children, provoked her. All the while, Hannah’s husband didn’t seem to understand her pain.

Hannah does the only thing she can–she pours her heart out to the Lord. This is no shallow, perfunctory prayer. She is not timid, but beseeches the Lord from the deepest part of her soul. The reason Hannah, and we, are able to speak to God this way is because we trust Him. We know we can speak to Him from our heart because we know He loves us and is strong enough to take whatever we can throw at Him. We are secure in Him. That is why, like a petulant child who expresses her inmost pain to her parents with the knowledge that she can never exhaust their love for her, Hannah is confident in God’s faithfulness.
Where can I go in my pain, my grief, my hurt, my bitterness? I can go to the Lord.

Hymn for Today:

"Tell It to Jesus" by Jeremiah E. Rankins
1. Are you weary, are you heavyhearted?
Tell it to Jesus,
Tell it to Jesus;
Are you grieving over joys departed?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Chorus:
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that's well-known;
You've no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.
2. Do the tears flow down your cheeks unbidden?
Tell it to Jesus,
Tell it to Jesus;
Have you sins that to men's eyes are hidden?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Chorus:
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that's well-known;
You've no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.
3. Do you fear the gath'ring clouds of sorrow?
Tell it to Jesus,
Tell it to Jesus;
Are you anxious what shall be tomorrow?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Chorus:
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that's well-known;
You've no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.
4. Are you troubled at the thought of dying?
Tell it to Jesus,
Tell it to Jesus;
For Christ's coming kingdom are you sighing?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Chorus:
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that's well-known;
You've no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.

Thought for Today:

“And now, God, do it again—
    bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
    will shout hurrahs at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
    will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.”(Psalm 126:4-6).
Prayer Needs:
That many people in Barbados will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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