When Hannah Was Heard

And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1^st Samuel 1:2 (NKJV)

As the narratives of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel begin, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, is unable to conceive. In the culture of the day infertility had deeply disturbing implications, involving embarrassment and even shame. She wanted desperately to give Elkanah her husband, children. What made things worse was Elkanah had a second wife named Peninnah who was prolific in her reproductive capacities, having sons and daughters. However, Peninnah was prone to jealousy that played out regularly against Hannah and in a vicious and spiteful way.

Elkanah’s marital acumen showed he wasn’t the sharpest chisel in the toolbox for he loved Hannah and openly favored her (1^st Sam 1:5). It sparked resentment in Peninnah who took every opportunity to mock Hannah and her inability to conceive and to make her life a living misery.

It became so great a heartache for Hannah, she wept and couldn’t even eat. In desperation she made a vow to the LORD, saying if the He would give her a male child, she would give him to His service all of his life, in the lifelong Nazarite vow of spiritual purity (1:11). 

This vow was made at the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh in front of Eli the High Priest, as she silently prayed. She was so intent in her prayer that Eli watching her lips moving thought her drunk and rebuked her. She assured him she was just a woman of sorrowful spirit. He then told her to go in peace and blessed her in her petition. The LORD heard her and honored her supplication.

While God can answer our petitions not every denial means disapproval, but there are times in His wisdom God says what we ask for isn’t in our best interests. Every move on His part is predicated on His perfect will and His plan to grow and strengthen us. It means His way is best. If He had denied Hannah, He was offering His best to her and the nation of Israel. Consider the tragic story of Samson (Judges chapters 13-16).

Asking and waiting can be tiresome and discouraging and feel like we’re losing all hope. Have you seen the t-shirt that says, “I had my patience tested. I was negative,”? That’s one option. But God’s T-shirt always reads, “I had my patience tested. I trusted.” Can that be wrong If He is God? Whatever the outcome my money’s on t-shirt number two.

Next week we will look at how Hannah was faithful in honoring a difficult vow and how God honored her for her faithfulness.

Ken

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4

 When God Answered Anyway

Virginia had been attending a weekly Bible study I taught at a company I worked at in the 1980s. The weekly study was at the request of our company’s Christian chief executive officer. One day Virginia and her friend, Dee, dropped by my department to ask if I would pray for her and a surgery Virginia was having the next day on her jaw to help correct a degenerative bone disease issue. It would be her second surgery.

Even though I was very busy, we went to a private room, and I prayed a quick, and mostly faithless prayer for her. I can’t even recall the words I prayed. It was quick and easy, and I went back to work and forgot about it.

The next day Dee came to my department and asked excitedly, “Has Virginia talked to you yet?” She went on to say, “The surgeon opened her jaw this morning and was stunned to find her jaw and surrounding tissue were all healthy, pink, and normal. Even the scar tissue from her first surgery was gone! The doctor kind of panicked and thought he’d operated on the wrong woman. He had his nurse pull her chart and verify this was the same Virginia he’d operated on before.

The nurse verified it to his amazement. He had no explanation, but Virginia testified to the miracle of God’s power that was shown through prayer. All he could say was, “There’s nothing else I can do for you, Virginia. There’s nothing wrong with your jaw. I’m going to stitch you up and send you home. I don’t understand it.”

Dee related this testimony of God’s graciousness much to my shame and embarrassment. I confessed to her how quickly I had prayed with them and that there had been absolutely no faith to my prayer. I had been more concerned about getting back to work. I asked for her forgiveness and when I saw Virginia, I asked hers too.

In seeking God’s forgiveness, He taught me a valuable lesson in His sovereignty, and grace and that He can work in any situation to show forth His ultimate glory. It is not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

This is just one episode in my Christian experience that has been a continual comfort to me in times when my prayers feel dry and ineffectual or even without faith. I am moved as I recall the mercies of the Lord and how He glorified Himself through a faithless prayer I once offered a little too quickly and easily. So rightly did the psalmist say, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory in the heavens.

Ken

Grace That Is Greater

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)

I recall a story the evangelist Billy Graham told of his relationship with then President John F. Kennedy. Reverend Graham had presented the gospel to the president who was very attentive and interested, but never made a commitment. Graham said when he was down with a very serious case of the flu, he received a call from the president. JFK said he was ready to accept Christ and wanted to meet with him.

Graham politely begged off, saying how sick he was at the moment, and would it be alright to meet in a couple of weeks when he was better? The president graciously said, “Of course. I understand.” Graham said the president was assassinated two weeks later and he (Graham) never got to speak with him. Graham said, “That will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

God, who does not change, says, “As surely as I live, declares the LORD GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11, 2^nd Peter 3:9).

The thief on the cross asked for forgiveness (Luke 23:42), yet Paul told the Philippian jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,” (Acts 16:31). God honors both, asking out loud and sincerely believing in the saving message of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. It comes down to a sincere heart of repentance and that’s what He sees.

If the grace of God is as true as Scripture teaches it leads me to believe John F. Kennedy had already made his decision for Christ’s salvation when he decided, it was what he wanted. In his phone call to Graham the president admitted he was ready and willing. When he decided “I’m ready,” that’s when Christ’s redemptive work could happen. God saw his heart and I believe we’ll see him in the New Kingdom. In fact, I believe we’ll see many there who we now believe are beyond the scope of Christ’s compassion and mercy. We can’t know their heart of hearts, but He does.

Grace brings forgiveness to the sincerely penitent to be sure, but grace is also pertinent to any problem or predicament you may be facing right now. Grace means He’s hearing your heart at all times and grace means He will never stop caring for you (1^st Peter 5:7). Thankfully, the grace of God remains constant for us.

Regardless of our past biases, a perfect day is coming when we will all join together in the harmony of worship and thanksgiving (Revelation 5:13). God’s fathomless grace will roll upon us throughout eternity like huge waves of the ocean. Who can know it? Thank God for Jesus Christ. Thank God for His grace, for it means He cares for each and every one of us in every second of this life and our lives to come.

 

Grace, grace, God’s grace

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, grace, God’s grace

Grace that is greater than all our sin

(Grace Greater Than Our Sin, Public Domain)

Ken

 

 

Serious Clock Watchers

O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save. Habakkuk 1:2 

 

Remember how those last 30 minutes of school dragged on? Even fervent prayer couldn’t make those seconds tick one millisecond faster. Believe me, I tried. I found some of the most difficult lessons I had to learn in school were the lessons of patience and that school clocks always worked, if ever so slowly.

The Jewish prophet, Habakkuk, lived in a very dangerous time in Israel. It was a time of violence, plundering, and rejection of the commandments of the LORD, much as things seem in our day. It became so bad in Habakkuk’s day that the prophet finally cried out to God, asking him where He was and why wasn’t He fixing it. He knew the LORD was able, but had time in heaven stopped?

America is at a time of tremendous upheaval, and not only in America but all across the globe. People who have the power, and wealth to hold that power, are working to move themselves into a new and dangerous elite ruling class. Has the Clock of Heaven stopped? Habakkuk thought it had.

A lot of us may wonder at times if God’s Celestial Clock is working. Why are things getting worse? When will His promises to make all things new be realized? We must remember God’s clock doesn’t run on linear time. It’s set to Divine Time.

Jesus said He was going to His Father’s house to hetoimazō (make ready, provide) monē (abodes-mansions) for us. He said if it were not true, He would have said so (John 14:2). Another indication He wants to be true and authentic with us. That means He will truly sort everything out to His glory and honor.

In all this current world turmoil (not the Great Tribulation) Jesus wants us to rest easy and not allow anxiety to overwhelm us. Not to be driven by emotion, which can cause us to abandon truth, but to be driven by devotion to the Father, which settles our hearts, calms our fears and gives clarity to factual data and evidence.

Finally, let us remember God’s delay is always for His display, that we might see He is always at work bringing something bigger and better. His clock is always moving. If He doesn’t answer immediately, His love for us never flickers with the houselights.

We are looking with the greatest excitement for the blessed hope of His glorious appearing to become His own special people (Titus 2:13-14).

We can depend on the truth Of Jesus Christ. He alone holds all power and authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18, John 17:2), along with all wisdom and understanding to do it right. 

He is returning, and Tempus fugit, time is flying. If you’re ready He’ll be coming to take you out of this mudhole to a new and wondrous world, beyond your imagination, a world He has prepared with you in mind. He’s true to His word and be assured Eternity’s Clock is still moving. Are you watching?

Ken

The Amazing Grace of the Have-nots

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)

Have you ever wanted something so badly you could taste it, yet never received it from the hand of God, even when the desire was to serve Him? At times, that can be what I have come to call the amazing grace of the have-nots. 

I began feeling a call to pastoral ministry in my early teens but as the old saying goes, “On the way to our dreams, life happens.” Things didn’t come together as I planned. I forgot how a person’s heart plans but God guides their steps (Proverbs 16:9).

I received my ordination in Pastoral Theology at age 33, with the intention of pioneering a Christian fellowship in my local community, yet God closed every door to pastoral ministry. When that didn’t come to fruition, I tried becoming a military chaplain. All those doors closed too. I prayed for God’s favor and grace to serve Him from my own drift. Instead of a church He gave me a weekly ministry on a devotional blog to what I can only term as My Faithful Fourteen. The Fourteen readers who faithfully return each week in my blog count.

Looking back on life since my teens, I have remained steadfast in my belief in God’s grace, but for reasons most do not consider. Grace is often touted in Christian circles as “Unmerited Favor.” We hear the word favor and we automatically think of benefits in the present without counting what the cost might be in the future.

God always answers; “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” Sometimes in His grace and mercy, He withholds things that could be destructive to ourselves and to others. I see now I had a lot of stones in my sack, harboring unconfessed angers, resentments, and even grudges, sins that could have played out in disastrous ways. I am dealing with these issues while marveling at God’s grace in protecting myself from my wants while being faithful to supply my needs.

While grace can mean favor that is not merited, it can also be a favor God gives us in withholding something because He loves us. Is God smarter than us? Yes, indeed. Sometimes I’m astounded at how smart He is. I look back and can now say, “Thank You, Lord, that in Your mercy You didn’t give me what I wanted.” It is have-not grace, yet grace for which I am truly thankful and remains amazing all the same.

Ken

Found By the Father

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23

We’ve all wondered at some time what God may look like. In our humanity it helps us relate to Him thinking of Him in some kind of visible, material form yet He has none. However it helps to imagine what God must be like, He is not corporeal, He is Spirit.

In His encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well Jesus confessed to her He was the long-awaited Messiah. He had come to deliver a new order of worship, where true worshippers are those who realize He is the Truth (Jn 3:21, 14:6), and the only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12).

I have experienced praying to Him is a freewill offering of praise, worship, thanksgiving and praying my needs. It gives Him pleasure when I pray and when anyone does so in spirit and in truth.

Jesus’ first mission was not to restore the physical kingdom of Israel, but humanity’s hearts and souls back into fellowship with the Father. This is what baffled the Pharisees of His day. Rabbinical teachings had come to put all the emphasis on the nation’s physical restoration of the Messianic promises, ignoring sin and its heart problem.

Messiah’s Second Advent will be to restore Israel as the preeminent kingdom of the earth. His First Advent was to deal with sin and unbelief and offer the gift of salvation, to the Jew first and then the Gentile (Romans 1:16). To understand that goes beyond fleshly understanding and is only reasoned through true spiritual pursuit. His Holy Spirit guides into all truth (John 16:13).

It’s not that difficult to comprehend. God is looking for those who hunger and thirst for the contentment only His Spirit can bring. He’s already desiring that for you and ready to take your hand. You are already found by the Father. You only need lift your hand. The Hour now is.

Ken

Jesus, I want to go beyond material ’things’ and into a new exciting spiritual communion with You that goes beyond religion and is relational. I know You’re desiring that for me, too. I ask You to meet me there and guide me into Your Truth to worship You in all Spirit and Truth. Amen.

How Majestic Is Our God!

He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our LORD, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:4-5)

Have you ever wondered how out of the billions of people on planet Earth God hears everyone’s thoughts and prayers at the same time and understands them individually? It would truly take a Being so Sentient He would have to be on the level of Majestic. He is that and beyond. He created the stars by command alone and calls them all by name (Genesis 1:1, 1:16). I was curious as to how many stars there are. It is estimated their number could equal 600 quadrillion! You could go to the other side of the universe and ask, “What’s that one’s name?” Out of those millions of points of light He wouldn’t need to ask which one you meant. That’s Majestic.

He knows everything about everything down to the number of cells in the bodies of everyone on earth, and down to the numbers of hairs on their heads. He’s never lost, confused or suffers a senior moment.

We all, at times, wonder if God hears us, or if He’s even listening. We might feel unimportant, or even abandoned. We can be assured of His fidelity. The stars served as a reminder to Abraham of the promise of his offspring (Genesis 26:4) and God’s faithful attention to Abraham’s every detail. Looking up into just his own Milky Way Abraham could not fully count them all.

God is not conditional in His love and interest in who you are. You mattered enough to send His only Begotten Son that if you believed on Him, you would gain salvation and eternal life (John 3:16).

Jesus said no sparrow falls without the Father’s will and knowledge and you, being made in His image, how much more of value are you than those?

He never sleeps, slumbers, or dozes. He sees all and knows all. He hears your every prayer and knows your every thought. He’s aware of these things right now, and since He is eternal, He has had all your problems, worries, hopes and dreams in mind, forever. How Majestic is our God!

God counts hairs, He doesn’t split them. A God who can remember 600 quadrillion names with ease would have no problem remembering yours. In all He has going and with all He holds together by His power, He’s still got your number. He’s still got your name. You’re that special. His understanding is infinite. He’s That Majestic!

Ken