Tuesday, December 22: 1 Samuel 1:25-28
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.
In this verse, we glimpse the peace that entered Hannah’s life when she fulfilled her purpose in service to God. She received the son she had yearned for and then with peace she gave him in service to the Lord. Her song of praise follows in chapter 2.
Each year thereafter, Hannah makes a new robe for Samuel. When her family makes the trip for their annual sacrifice, she visits her son and gives him the robe. I imagine Hannah’s feeling of peace and contentment in this ritual – while she’s making the robe she is working with purpose and giving it intentionally.
There is great peace and rest in serving where you know you are supposed to be. When I first pondered Hannah, it seemed so strange to yearn and pray for something just to give it right back. If I reframe her story within the context of that culture, I think about how the worth and purpose of a woman was most often directly linked to bearing children. Hannah’s prayer wasn’t just for a child. Her prayer was to fill an emptiness, a lack of direction in her life. Hannah’s act of sending Samuel in service of the Lord fulfilled her purpose and brought her peace. We can do the same – we can pray for God to show us our purpose and ask for His help to fulfill that purpose. We can enjoy peace and contentment as we turn right around and offer that in service to Him.
Nikki Watters