GIVING IT ALL TO THE LORD
1 Samuel 1:5-6, 10-11, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27-28 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb.
[6] And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.
[10] And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
[11] And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
[13] Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
[15] And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
[20] Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
[22] But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
[27] For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
[28] Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
I want to share with you today, in our text, one of the most personal and powerful passages of the scripture and the impact it has made in my life. For those of you who have children, we have all had the conversation about what to name a baby that is on the way. My wife and I, after going back and forth with names, and not being able to agree on one. We were both in bed and reading some scripture and I was reading here in I Samuel chapter 1. When I read the last verse, with tears in my eyes, I looked at my wife and said…(Hannah Ruth)…now that is the name I believe the Lord wants our little girl to have! Hallelujah! We both read the chapter together and not only did we agree on a name, we both made a renewed commitment that night to give our children to the Lord and to HIS work.
Hannah had waited for so long to have a child, because the Lord had shut up her womb. She prayed faithfully for years, giving God no rest until HE heard her cry. The Lord answered, not her words, but the prayer from her heart with a son, a child that HE would use in a mighty way to speak to HIS people. Samuel was set apart as holy unto the Lord. He was not Hannah’s son, he was the Lord’s and she honored that truth by giving him back to God as soon as he was old enough to be weaned. Can you imagine giving up your child and walking away allowing someone else to raise them? As a dad my heart stops at the thought of such a sacrifice. Yet, are our children ever ours to begin with? Hannah knew what so many of us have failed to understand when it comes to our children; we have no ownership rights because ALL belongs to the Lord. We are but stewards of all that HE allows us to have including our children. So when it came time for Hannah to release her child to the prophet (Eli), her heart had absolute peace because she never claimed ownership of him to begin with. We cannot place our brand upon something that does not belong to us, that would be thievery and robbing God of what is HIS.
The Lord has blessed me and my wife with two beautiful daughters; Brooke, my first born and Hannah as before mentioned is my almost 2 year old baby girl. They are both completely different in their own way. Brooke is the sweetest young lady, quiet, and humble, (she takes that after my wife), and Hannah (the tornado) well she is the complete opposite but she is so precious! They both have completely changed our lives and there are no words from my heart that could properly express how much I love them. There are still times, I have to remind myself that they are not mine but HIS! The Lord put HIS claim upon them long before they took their first breath. We have no ownership in this life but we do have a stewardship; an accountability coming for all God has placed within our lives and blessed us so abundantly with.
My Christian friend, whether you have children or not, whatever God has allowed you to have we must remind ourselves daily that we are only stewards. God is the owner of it all. Ownership rights are never ours to exercise because we have none. It’s very easy to build our kingdoms, brand our names upon ministries and people when in reality, they were never ours to begin with. We are HIS creation who have been allowed to take care of God’s property. We hold no titles to anything and the only rights we have are those God affords us. Have you given to God what rightfully belongs to HIM or have you claimed it for yourself?
Bro. Lawrence Longworth
Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
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