Hannah...said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always."
My daughters are on mission trips right now. One is in Nicaragua and the other is in Nepal. I have thought of Hannah often during these weeks that they've been gone (and the months leading up to this). Hannah had dedicated her son to God, and willingly made good on her promise.
It couldn't have been easy. Not only was she surrendering her very young (and only) son, but she was sending him into an atmosphere that wasn't particularly godly (2:12). Surely people talked, and Hannah probably knew what Eli's sons were doing. If Eli couldn't raise his own sons to honor God, how could she trust him with Samuel?
But Hannah understood that she wasn't really handing her son over to Eli. She knew to Whom she was entrusting his care. In verse 28 she says, "So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." She knew that God would watch over Samuel, and have His hand on her son throughout his entire life.
Showing posts with label Trusting in God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trusting in God. Show all posts
Friday, August 3, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Genesis 27:9-17
...Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob...
Up until this point, what we see of Rebekah is admirable. However, trouble starts brewing in Genesis 25:28, when it states that she favored Jacob. This could be because Isaac favored Esau, so it would be natural that a mother's heart would go to the child receiving less attention from his father. But it also could very likely be due to what God told her before the twins were born -
...The older will serve the younger.
Rebekah's problems here are twofold. First, she didn't trust God to do what He said He would do. It was God's will that He would do something great through Jacob - and He did. Jacob's descendants became the nation of Israel, and through his line the Messiah came. But Rebekah felt she had to take matters into her hands. She assumed she knew how God's plan would come about, and she took steps to make it happen (not unlike Sarai and Abram with Hagar). Nowhere in this passage do we see Rebekah consulting God.
Know this - God will do what He has purposed to do. He is a faithful God and His plan is perfect. Sometimes He uses us to bring it about, but we need to be certain we are walking in His will before we act.
Secondly, Rebekah deceived her husband. This should have been a tip off that her plan wasn't the same as God's. Everything Rebekah said and did in this story involved lying to Isaac. Deception should never be a part of marriage. Yet here was Rebekah, lying to and manipulating her husband, taking advantage of his weakness.
Honesty has to be at the core of a marriage relationship. Two people cannot live together under a web of lies. Whether it's half-truths, misleading conversations, or witholding information, it is deception. It is sin, and it does not belong in a marriage.
Up until this point, what we see of Rebekah is admirable. However, trouble starts brewing in Genesis 25:28, when it states that she favored Jacob. This could be because Isaac favored Esau, so it would be natural that a mother's heart would go to the child receiving less attention from his father. But it also could very likely be due to what God told her before the twins were born -
...The older will serve the younger.
Rebekah's problems here are twofold. First, she didn't trust God to do what He said He would do. It was God's will that He would do something great through Jacob - and He did. Jacob's descendants became the nation of Israel, and through his line the Messiah came. But Rebekah felt she had to take matters into her hands. She assumed she knew how God's plan would come about, and she took steps to make it happen (not unlike Sarai and Abram with Hagar). Nowhere in this passage do we see Rebekah consulting God.
Know this - God will do what He has purposed to do. He is a faithful God and His plan is perfect. Sometimes He uses us to bring it about, but we need to be certain we are walking in His will before we act.
Secondly, Rebekah deceived her husband. This should have been a tip off that her plan wasn't the same as God's. Everything Rebekah said and did in this story involved lying to Isaac. Deception should never be a part of marriage. Yet here was Rebekah, lying to and manipulating her husband, taking advantage of his weakness.
Honesty has to be at the core of a marriage relationship. Two people cannot live together under a web of lies. Whether it's half-truths, misleading conversations, or witholding information, it is deception. It is sin, and it does not belong in a marriage.
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