Hi ladies! Happy Wednesday to you… or if you are reading this tomorrow, happy Thursday!
Hannah has been a lady on my heart for the past month. I love her and her story. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Missy loves every Old Testament woman!” Haha, but seriously… Hannah is great. Before I would read her story, and although I appreciated her, I did not fully understand her heart. But lately God has really been showing me just how similar the two of us are. Hannah’s is a heart that most of us women can relate to. She has a safe home, is provided for, and has someone who loves her. But she also feels like there is a part of her that is incomplete. She is not able to have children. She knows her husband loves her, but there is just that one thing that is making her feel less than whole.
I started thinking of how this applied to me. I am not married, and don’t have children. But I do know that feeling of desire for something else to complete my life. I began reading over this particular verse:
Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” – 1 Samuel 1:8
I could hear the hurt in her husband’s voice. He was feeling like he was not enough for her. Could it be that this is exactly how God’s heart feels towards me every time I ignore him? I knew exactly what God was saying to my heart. “Missy, why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I (your Heavenly Husband) mean more to you than an earthly husband?”
Like Hannah, I desire most the one thing I don’t have; when my Heavenly Husband should be my all. I don’t mean to say that Hannah’s desire for a son, or my desire for a husband is wrong; it just needs to be kept in its proper place of submission. God’s heart as our husband right now is jealous for us. He desires to spend all His time with us, and doesn’t want our heart’s affections to be divided and given to something (or someone) else. Someday He may allow an earthly man to come and share part of our affections, but God as our first husband shall always rein as King of our hearts.
But Hannah’s deeply honest prayer is not wrong; it is an act of submission.
“O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon 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: 11.
If and when God grants me the blessing of an earthly husband someday, this is how I want my prayer to be mirrored. Even though he will be my husband, he will always be God’s first and foremost. He will be like a gift from the Lord, and therefore rightly belonging to Him. I want to constantly be giving him back to the Lord, just like Hannah gives Samuel back to the Lord.
“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over the LORD.”- 1 Samuel 1: 27.
I prayed for this man, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD…
Going green,
Missy
Hannah has been a lady on my heart for the past month. I love her and her story. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Missy loves every Old Testament woman!” Haha, but seriously… Hannah is great. Before I would read her story, and although I appreciated her, I did not fully understand her heart. But lately God has really been showing me just how similar the two of us are. Hannah’s is a heart that most of us women can relate to. She has a safe home, is provided for, and has someone who loves her. But she also feels like there is a part of her that is incomplete. She is not able to have children. She knows her husband loves her, but there is just that one thing that is making her feel less than whole.
I started thinking of how this applied to me. I am not married, and don’t have children. But I do know that feeling of desire for something else to complete my life. I began reading over this particular verse:
Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” – 1 Samuel 1:8
I could hear the hurt in her husband’s voice. He was feeling like he was not enough for her. Could it be that this is exactly how God’s heart feels towards me every time I ignore him? I knew exactly what God was saying to my heart. “Missy, why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I (your Heavenly Husband) mean more to you than an earthly husband?”
Like Hannah, I desire most the one thing I don’t have; when my Heavenly Husband should be my all. I don’t mean to say that Hannah’s desire for a son, or my desire for a husband is wrong; it just needs to be kept in its proper place of submission. God’s heart as our husband right now is jealous for us. He desires to spend all His time with us, and doesn’t want our heart’s affections to be divided and given to something (or someone) else. Someday He may allow an earthly man to come and share part of our affections, but God as our first husband shall always rein as King of our hearts.
But Hannah’s deeply honest prayer is not wrong; it is an act of submission.
“O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon 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: 11.
If and when God grants me the blessing of an earthly husband someday, this is how I want my prayer to be mirrored. Even though he will be my husband, he will always be God’s first and foremost. He will be like a gift from the Lord, and therefore rightly belonging to Him. I want to constantly be giving him back to the Lord, just like Hannah gives Samuel back to the Lord.
“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over the LORD.”- 1 Samuel 1: 27.
I prayed for this man, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD…
Going green,
Missy
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