2-9-2017

 Good Morning All,

             1 Samuel 1:13a; “Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard.”

     As we look at our verse, I would encourage you to read all of 1 Samuel chapter 1.  Hannah is a wife who has not been able to conceive a child.  Her husband has two wives; the other wife has numerous children.  The other wife taunts and makes fun of Hannah.  Hannah is desperate to have a child and cannot.  All of her self-worth, all of her self-esteem, her entire identity is wrapped up into being a mother and she cannot.  She goes to the Temple to pray and she prays.  She prays the pain of someone who is deeply distressed and in great anguish.  She prays with all her heart but the words do not come out.  Her lips move but no sound comes out.

    At first the priest who witnesses this, Eli, thinks she is drunk.  Yet when Hannah explains her pain and the vexation she feels; Eli has compassion on her and offers her a blessing and some hope.  Eventually, Hannah has her child, a son she named Samuel and she praises God.

    Have you ever been there?  Have you ever been so distraught, so wracked with fear and pain that when you cried out to God, no sound came out?  Any time I read this verse, I remember back to when our sons were toddlers.  It seemed like each of them experienced a time when they either fell down some stairs or slammed a hand or foot in the door or dropped something on themselves.  There would be a scream, and then silence as they continued to cry but no sound would come out.  We would pick them up and hold them tight and comfort them until they stopped crying but there was always that time when nothing came out.  Whether it was fear or pain that caused it, I am not sure but what they experienced was so intense that no sound came out.

    There are times and events that can shake you right to the very core.  The pain can feel like a knife in the back that is being twisted.  It is deep and raw.  It might be the death of your parents, spouse, child or a grave accident that left you or a loved one incapacitated in some way.  Some great fear or pain struck you deep and to the core.  You prayed but no sound came out.  Yet you are heard.  God hears your heart and he knows your pain.  He will send his Spirit to comfort you.  Hopefully, that Spirit will also have human hands and ears like Eli to offer comfort and consolation but even if these human elements are missing: God is not missing.  He is holding you in his arms and comforting you with his words of hope, his words of comfort and with his words of peace.  God does not abandon you; he holds you up forever.  He covers you with his wings of mercy and guards you with his love.  Even in the darkest of dark, when the cries are most intense yet most silent, God has not abandoned you.  He holds you and will never let you go.

Father of all mercies, you let no cry go unheard from your children.  Send them your comfort, peace and hope.  Lift them up so that they may know of your love. Send your hands and your arms to comfort them with your Words.  Give them your peace and your everlasting love.  Through Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret