Scripture: 1st Samuel 1:27-28
For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” She left him there for the Lord.
Thought for the Day: The child for which Hannah had been praying finally arrived, and he was named Samuel. The name in Hebrew means to hear God and obey, and after the child is weaned, Hannah did something that would shock most of us in today’s world. Though she had made a promise, most of us would have found the escape clause and wiggled out of the commitment. But Hannah brought the child, Samuel, to the temple at Shiloh, where she dedicated him to the Lord…which meant that she left her young child with the priest, Eli. When that for which you have been waiting finally arrives, it would be difficult to let it go. When that ‘it’ is your only child, suddenly it becomes more than difficult. Yet Hannah trusted the Lord, and in that trust, God was able to do something amazing. I’m not suggesting you drop off your child at the local Synagogue (both the government and our Jewish brothers and sisters would rather you keep the child), but where in your life are you needing to let go of something that took forever to secure? What might it mean to let go of it in prayer, trusting that God can and will do something amazing with it?
Prayer: Help me search my life, my soul, my closet, O Lord—for there is something that I probably have been protecting. If only I can let it go, it would most certainly find a much more worthy purpose in your gracious hands. Amen.
YOU ARE INVITED
Tomorrow at Noon
