January 8th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens
Today we’re going to start a broad overview of the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. We’ll be leaving a LOT of detail out, so as always, read it on your own!!
This book opens with the amazing story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. I’m not going to plunge headlong into the gist of this book without pausing briefly on Hannah – it seems only appropriate in a blog which is somewhat dedicated to women and mothers.
Even as I write this, I am playing with my own chubby, smiley baby boy. I cannot imagine taking him during his preschool years to a place far away from me to be raised by a man who clearly has dropped the ball in his own parenting, knowing that I will see him for only one brief visit a year. Add to that the fact that Samuel was the baby she had longed for over painful years of barrenness, and it seems unbelievable. And yet, that is exactly what Hannah does.
When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.” “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying 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 to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
1 Samuel 1:21-28
How did she do it? I cannot fathom. But I think that Hannah understood something much more clearly than most of the rest of us: Our children are not ours. God had a special calling on the life of Samuel, and I think that somehow, Hannah understood this. She knew what she had to do and she obeyed God fully, cheerfully, completely. 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 to the LORD.
What would our baby dedication services be like if all of the parents standing at the front of the church, holding their precious little babies, understood this? That the child in the arms was not theirs – that they had been untrusted with the heavy responsibility of rearing that child to know and serve and love the Lord first and foremost?
When I was 15 years old I had the opportunity to go to Haiti on a missions trip with a group from the Christian school I attended. It was not the safest place to be at the time; in my 15 year old bubble, I really had no idea how difficult that decision was for my parents to allow me to go. When I was in college I was discussing that decision with my dad and he said, “Your mother and I had given you to the Lord. If He wanted you to go, how could we stand in your way?” I thank the Lord for parents who understand the calling and ownership of God- that trip impacted me deeply for eternity!
Over the past couple of years, our group of young couples from our church has been hit hard with the reality of loss – many early miscarriages, the loss of a full term baby girl, the near death of another precious 5 month old baby, and a young mother who barely survived complications of childbirth. Throughout this time we wrestled with grief for our friends and at the same time a very real fear of losing our children. But I also had to face the fact that our children are not ours alone. The thought of God taking one of my children is heartbreaking – but they are ultimately His. Do I trust Him enough to leave them in His hands?
In addition to life-and-death issues, this has many daily implications, as well. We plan to homeschool our children. When I consider doing this, I must keep in mind that my ultimate goal is not to have smarter or more gifted children, nor is it to insulate them from a “bad” world – my goal is to disciple my children, to teach them to follow Christ in each and every aspect of their lives, to instill in them a deep understanding of God’s ways and His Word, to equip them to effectively communicate and live out their faith in a world with an entirely different worldview. That must undergird what curriculum I choose, what activities we are involved in, the focus of everything we do. I pray that they will become genuine, sold-out, influential disciples of Christ, not badges of honor for me to wear and feel like a super-mom.
That unthinkable sacrifice made by one young woman had huge eternal ramifications in Israel. Samuel would grow up living in the temple, in the very presence of God. He was audibly called by God at a very young age and set apart for service. He anointed the first two kings over Israel at the direction of God. Our children are not ours alone. They are not simply for our pleasure, our pride, our posterity. Lord, give us hearts to trust You, eyes to see You, and the determination to raise our children to bring glory to Your name, not ours.
And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men.
1 Samuel 2:26
I hate ironing. I really do. So, instead of ironing what I wash each week and hanging all those things nicely back in the closet, I throw them on the closet floor! I wait until the pile is about to consume us and my husband has no shirts to wear to work, and then I iron for hours on end. Why do I do this to myself?? Each time I iron the pile I vow to do better. And then I wait until the pile is eating me again.
