Learning From the Life of Hannah: A Woman with Serious Problems {Part 5}

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{This is Part 5 in a series on the Life of Hannah.

Click here for Part 1.}

For the last four weeks we have been examining the life of Hannah as told in 1 Samuel. As we come to the end of Hannah’s story today, we know God will be Eternally Glorified and we see that Hannah Erupts in Praise to the Supreme Ruler.

The God who Sovereignly Governs over all, Providentially Guides all circumstances, Graciously Gives all things is Eternally Glorified and “we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time”, Paul said to the Romans, “are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Oh, He is worthy of our praise.

In Romans, Paul said: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”





Hannah knows the goodness of God in her life and understood that there is no one like our God who will graciously give us all things.

Hannah’s heart erupts in praise to the Lord. She takes what has happened in her life and she breaks forth in magnificent descriptions of the character and goodness of God.

Her joy is in the Giver, not the gift.



In 1 Samuel chapter two, we read Hannah’s prayer.

In her prayer, Hannah meditates on the extraordinary goodness of God to her with all of who she is, she rejoices in the strength His gives. Her heart leaps for joy at his salvation; his deliverance.

She proclaims his absolute holiness, and acknowledges there is none like Him. He is above all.

Hannah uses the metaphor of the “rock” and speaks of his majesty and might. She knows He is the safe dwelling place for his people.

She speaks of His omniscience, His sovereignty, His omnipotence and His power over life and death. Hannah declares He is Creator and Sustainer of all. That He upholds all things and directs all things.

He knows all things: He knows our heart, our thoughts, our actions.

He is the Supreme Ruler. His plans will come to pass.

She knows He is Just and merciful, gracious and faithful in His promises.

She tells of the promised Messiah.

These are the things Hannah’s heart knows. Do you know God like this? Does your heart leap for joy the way Hannah’s did?





Hannah’s tune changes from weeping over her problems with sorrow to rejoicing in the Lord with this song of praise.

The book of Samuel begins with Hannah praying for the son that God would use to lead the nation of Israel from the time of the judges to establish the Davidic monarchy. God promised a Messiah through the line of David and to establish David’s throne forever. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, our Redeemer will reign forever.

Nothing can frustrate God’s plan.

Jesus Christ is the perfect substitutionary sacrifice and He bore the wrath of God for our sin that He might bring us to God.

The Supreme Ruler who Sovereignly Governs, Providentially Guides, and Graciously Gives, provides Hannah with three more sons and two daughters. Her future is secure.

In every way His will must prevail.





You may be women with serious problems, but we have a God who is Supreme over all. Because of His love He will graciously give you all things to conform you into the likeness of His Son to the praise of His glory.

With all your afflictions, sorrows, and anxieties find your joy in the Lord.

God Sovereignly Governs, Providentially Guides, Graciously Gives, and is Eternally Glorified.

Like Hannah, will you endure your problems, earnestly pour out your soul, entrust your Provider with all that He gives you and erupt in praise to your Saviour?

We have looked to the life of a woman with serious problems whose joy was ultimately in the Lord. We will conclude with these words Joseph Addison wrote in his hymn:

“Ten thousand thousand precious gifts

My daily thanks employ;

Nor is the least a cheerful heart

That tastes those gifts with joy.

Through every period of my life

Thy goodness I’ll pursue

And after death, in distant worlds,

The glorious theme renew.

Through all eternity to Thee

A joyful song I’ll raise;

For, oh, eternity’s too short

To utter all Thy praise!”

That Day He Proposed to Me on the Anne of Green Gables Bridge

Oceans of water has

flowed

under the bridge

since

in our young love

Seventeen years ago

today

He sang to me the love ballad

inscribed on his

heart

and 

He tenderly took my

hand

and 

We boldly walked

out 

on the battered bridge

together

and as he opened a red velvet box

the diamond danced in the light

on a golden band

and the

words

He declared down on bended knee

I will never forget

and the

one blazing word 

I breathed

to my beloved

I will never regret.

Words of Wisdom for the Weekend: "God's Glory Demands Display"

"And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
{2 Corinthians 3:18}

"We are colanders filled with glory-water. Our best efforts are spent trying to cover the seeping holes with not enough fingers. God's glory demands display. Yet sometimes we get a glimpse of it, when we taste something we come alive doing, when we feel that sense of purpose wake up within us, we become terrified. And so instead, we spend out time looking for plastic bags to catch it before it pours out, wasted.  We want to be something more sensible, more practical. Something like a jar with a lid. No holes. No glory leaks.  Let's control it, contain it. Let's be reasonable . . .   Surely God has another way to display God's glory. Surely He doesn't intend to do it through me . . .   Christ came to reestablish out identity, showing us what it means to be fully alive as a human—how to live on earth as we were intended to live—a life of complete dependence of the Father." ~ Emily P. Freeman, 'A Million Little Ways'

***

A friend sent me this song, 'Never Once' by Matt Redman, while I was doing battle with fear and a grimy toilet. Life never gets more authentic than when the mundane interlocks with holy ground.  It stayed on repeat. {Email subscribers can click here to listen to video." "Never once did we walk alone, Never once did You leave us on our own, You are faithful, God You are faithful . . . " "Every step we are breathing in Your grace, Evermore we'll be breathing out your praise You are faithful, God You are faithful."

Interesting article by the writer at 'The New Yorker' and best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell: How I Re-Discoverd My Faith "I never plan out my books in advance. I start in the middle and try and muddle my way from there. When I met Wilma Derksen, I finally understood what I was really getting at, in all the social science I had been reading and in the stories I was telling of dyslexia and entrepreneurs and education. I was interested—to borrow that marvellous phrase from Pierre Sauvage—in the “weapons of the spirit”—the peculiar and inexplicable power that comes from within.  When I told a friend of mine about my visit to the Derksens, he sent me a quotation from 1 Samuel 16:7. It so perfectly captured what I realized David and Goliath was about that it is now on the first page of the book: “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

Captivating story beautifully written by Deidra Riggs at Jumping Tandem, 'Waffle House Resolution': " . . . it's so important to live the moment that I'm in for all its worth because all its worth is more than I will even know how to handle."

Titus 2 Tips {on Thursdays}  Some great women lined up willing to share from their hearts to encourage and mentor women. Here on this little house on the web on Thursdays. "As I creep closer to the mid of life, I see myself as a younger woman and an older woman. The mentee and the mentor. But, really aren't we all? Whether we feel qualified, we are urged to be teachers; to teach things that are noble, honourable, literally a teacher of winsome goodness.  We must depend on the Lord to give us wisdom to teach and receive the teaching the older women in our lives are offering.  My hope is to have guests share words to offer practical tips to mentor and encourage women to love God and to love their husbands and children.  It will look different from week to week as I hope to have various women share from their lives, homes and hearts."

***

{Words for Wisdom for the Weekend: These are words that I have been challenged or encouraged by that I have read throughout my week that I kept pondering; words that I couldn't get off my mind and heart throughout my week. 

For other Words of Wisdom for the Weekend posts see here.}

The Most Important Thing I Learned While Hunting in November 2013

"November is usually such a disagreeable month . . . as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully . . . just like a stately old lady who know she can be charming even with grey hair and wrinkles. We've had lovely days and delicious twilights." 

~L.M. Montgomery, 'Anne of Avonlea'

She was nearly silenced.

Left without words to offer.

Stormed in with only a whisper.

Barely breathing in grace.

As the sun and moon took their turns in the November sky she could only keep hunting in the storms.

Groping her way to shelter.

Searching for refuge.

Gracefully bending under burdens.



Day after day, weak ones begged for intercession.

Storm after storm, weary ones cried out for sanctuary.

Battle after battle, warriors appealed for peace.

She tuned in for a song to be somewhere in the suffering.

She watched for joy to come in the mourning.

She waited for worship to follow the weeping.

She shook her head at the things that could silence her.

How the exhausting days, an off-handed comment, relentless struggles, winds of life whipping her in the face, darkest nights, and the depravity of her own soul could leave her hushed, scared, unsure of setting one foot in front of the other.

Her default, to wrap herself in fear instead of walking in faith, threatened to deride her.

But she had set out to hunt and although it looked different then she anticipated, in hunting, she opened her hand to God's grace, steadfast love and never-ending mercies, she released her grip on fear and she found refuge in the present suffering by seeing it in light of God's eternal promises.

Yes, tears fall in the tiring days.

Yes, strength fails in the storms of life.

Yes, disease and death do sting.

But as prayers are on the lips of the saints, the God who bottles our tears also gathers our prayers in golden bowls.

As our weeping endures for the moment, we know the victory has been won, the Messiah has come in mortal flesh as a babe, conquered all sin and death as the God-man, so our prayers will be worship to the One who sits on the Throne.

As our suffering must be seen in light of God's eternal promises, so our prayers will be made sweet incense when the worthy Lamb, who suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, opens the book and loosens the seals.

This is the thing with bottled tears and bowls of prayers:

God turns our wailing into dancing and our prayer into worship because, "behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered" and we will weep no more.







When the world screams no God she yearns for more God.

So she set out in an earnest search and called this month 'Morevember'.

And she found that this hunting was just what she needed.

To open her eyes to see,

to open her hands to grasp,

to open her heart to hear.





So even when she was dumb she was not without a hope.

When her tears fell, she believed there would be a turning to joy.

When prayers faltered on her lips, she presented only groanings and was confident the Spirit would plead on her behalf.

With bold supplication she surrendered, knew her own weakness and found refuge.



November grew old, and now passes on with a white gleaming crown.

And the one who was silenced, now she silences the nay-sayers with a charm of her own.

She gives thanks for the delicious twilights and the sunrise after the storm.

For the Son in the midst of the storm.

For the Rock who is her Refuge.

She finds her song in the suffering.

Her hope in the hurting.

Her joy in the world.

In Him. More of Him.

In His presence. His goodness. His love.

November wanted to fill her right to the deepest marrow with melancholy.

But in the hunting, her ears were ripened to His music. His mercy. His grace.

In the silence her heart heard His song.

"The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing."

Emmanuel has come.

In the morning we wait for fullness of joy.

God with us.

***

This is the final post for this series of Hunting for more of God's Grace, Steadfast love and His Mercies that are new every morning in 'Morevember'.

I invite you to never stop hunting along with me for more of His mercy and grace  and steadfast love to see more of Him in #Morevember on Facebook and Twitter.




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Linking with Emily. What have you learned this month? Please share.

Behold the Works of the Lord and Be Still {#Morevember}

(Email subscribers, listen to song here)

***

Hunting for more of God's Grace,Steadfast love and His Mercies that are new every morning in 'Morevember'.

3 gifts silent:
~sharing hearts during storms in life even amidst the chaos
~a bowl of stew delivered to my door by a thoughtful neighbour and friend
~a rare quiet evening at home and a hot bath and a book before bed

I invite you to hunt along with me for more of His mercy and grace in #Morevember on Facebook and Twitter.

Enter your email address to subscribe to A Soft Gentle Voice and have this series delivered to your inbox.   

"Mercies Anew" - A Song for Your Morning or At the End of Your Day

"Mercies Anew"

"Every morning that breaks there are mercies anew.

Every breath that I take is Your faithfulness proved,

And at the end of each day, when my labors are through,

I will sing of Your mercies anew.

When I've fallen and strayed, there were mercies anew.
For you sought me in love and my heart you pursued.
In the face of my sin, Lord, You never withdrew.
So I sing of Your mercies anew.

And Your mercies they will never end;
For ten thousand years they remain.
And when this world's beauty has passed away,
Your mercies will be unchanged.

And when the storms swirl and rage, there are mercies anew.
In affliction and pain, You will carry me through.
And at the end of my days, when your throne fills my view,
I will sing of Your mercies anew.
I will sing of Your mercies anew."

(Sovereign Grace Music)


(Email subscribers: to listen to song, click here.)

***

Hunting for more of God's Grace,Steadfast love and His Mercies that are new every morning in 'Morevember'.

3 gifts ~ from my window:

~pulling back the blinds to welcome a brand new day

~watching, with my son, the bluejays and chickadees

~looking up to a sliver of a moon that offers a hint of light in the immense darkness as another day is tucked away

I invite you to hunt along with me for more of His mercy and grace in #Morevember on Facebook and Twitter.

Enter your email address to subscribe to A Soft Gentle Voice and have this series delivered to your inbox.   

Let Your Steadfast Love Comfort Me

Colombian coffee lingers in the stillness. The steamy rich creaminess on my tongue is but a memory till I fill my cup again. I lean back in the black leather desk chair from the books before me; my anchor of a study Bible spread open and a devotional split back and face down. 

The hum of the computer fills the quiet space; it is deafening in the silence of the dawn. The tweet of a text just alerted me of a beautiful message of hope and grace and truth. A friend is praying for me and I lean into truth to rest in the arms of God, my Comforter. 

My heart will embrace the beauty of His precious words this day for when I will have to lay myself face down on the cold table and the technicians will tell me not to move a muscle or the magnetic imaging will have to be repeated. The noise will close in on me and send me into an almost state of panic. Just me alone in a great room filled with bangs that will ricochet around me. It will be so loud I will only be able to chant in my mind, “The Lord is my shepherd . . . He leads me beside still waters.”

I start this day sitting curled in a peaceful silence. I will have to end laying prostrate holding onto the promise of being held in His presence, a safe pasture for those who trust in Him, in the midst of magnetic waves that will attempt to drown me as they scan my chest for any sign of cancer. 

I will go from here meditating on the words of the Psalmist, letting them linger in the recesses of my heart: “You are good and do good . . . let your steadfast love comfort me.”

No Need To Be Afraid of Being Too Glad

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalms 92:4

"Do you believe that your sins are forgiven, and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be! How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now? . . . Christian, if thou art thus saved, whilst thou art glad, be grateful and loving. 

Cling to that cross which took thy sin away; serve thou him who served thee. "I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." 

Let not your zeal evaporate in some little ebullition of song. 

Show your love in expressive tokens. 

Love the brethren of him who loved you.

If there be a Mephibosheth anywhere who is lame or halt, help him for Jonathan's sake. 

If there be a poor tried believer, weep with him, and bear his cross for the sake of him who wept for thee and carried thy sins.

Since thou art thus forgiven freely for Christ's sake, go and tell to others the joyful news of pardoning mercy. Be not contented with this unspeakable blessing for thyself alone, but publish abroad the story of the cross.

Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a good preacher, and all the world will be a pulpit for you to preach in. 

Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons, but the Lord must give it you. Seek it this morning before you go into the world. When it is the Lord's work in which we rejoice, we need not be afraid of being too glad."

~Spurgeon {emphasis mine}

Come. Let us rejoice in His goodness together!

Afraid {What to Believe in the Face of Fear}

Writing with others, on Friday, with Lisa-Jo and others at Five Minute Friday.
 The rules for Five Minute Friday are:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..


And the post for Five Minute Friday prompt for this week is :

Afraid

*****

I watch her as she runs, jumps, hops, twirls, flings her blond wisps back, throws her head back in laughter.

Without a care in the world.

I must have blinked. My baby is turning 3 in 9 more days. How can that be?

As I watch her run on the indoor play field and this realization hits me, I shudder on the inside.

I don't know why, but each time my three babies have reached this age an old fear rises up and about chokes me.

Or maybe I do know why?

At this age, when you should be free to run and jump and live life with reckless abandon, I had to fight for my life.

I have had to fight this fear the rest of my life.

I do not want to fight against cancer ever again.

In me, or worse, in my own child, barely three.

Fear has been a constant companion.

But as I have read through God's Word, I am amazed at how many times fear is mentioned. It seems to be a constant companion to many.

What did David, the Shepherd appointed King, sing?

'I will fear no evil for you are with me.'

Like I heard a preacher say months ago, 'The antidote to fear is the assurance of God's presence and protection.'

I don't have to fight this fear alone.

God has not removed evil, and I have every reason to fear, but I can rest assured that no matter what happens to me or one of my children, God is with me.

For I can rest in the Lord for He goes right beside me, holds me in the crook of His arm.

We will celebrate her third birthday and rejoice in each day that the Lord has given us.

And, at the same time, long for the day that all will be restored.

*****

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me . . .  (Psalm 23:1-4)

Photo: 

She grabs whatever is close by and can be made into a makeshift microphone and sings along with the music filling the house with:

When the earth shakes I wanna be found in You

When the lights fade I wanna be found in You

All I know is I'm not home yet

This is not where I belong

Take this world and give me Jesus

This is not where I belong

'Where I belong'

Also linked here on her topic of 'beleive'