Last Saturday I shared a message at a Mother Child Tea. The topic of the event was based on 1 Samuel 1:27-28

For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” 

As I prayed about what God would have me share and how he would have me share it, I did as I always do when praying and preparing… I went to the context of the verse that the event was planned around.

As I  pondered the historical context of 1 Samuel 1:27-28 several things hit me. One was the value that was placed on having children. Another was the character of Hannah. Another was the character of her husband and his confidence in the character of his wife… the woman he loved.

We live in a day where woman are fighting for the right to kill their unborn children. Even going to the point of videoing themselves having an abortion and unabashedly promoting it as a beautiful thing aligned with giving birth.

I have always found the societal outrage over the woman who hacks her newborn child with a butcher knife quite hypocritical since that is the EXACT same thing that an abortionist does… and yet our society celebrates it.

I talked with a friend several months ago that was sharing with me the story of a woman who lives in San Diego, California. Her husband is Philip Rivers. He is currently the quarterback for the San Diego Chargers. He and his wife have seven children. His wife shared with my friend that when she went to the doctor to confirm she was pregnant with her 4th child her San Diego doctor, upon giving her the confirmation of pregnancy also entered the room with abortion info and replied that she knew she would be wanting this for baby #4.

It took Mrs. Rivers a while to find a pro-life doctor in California… but she did.

Mrs. Rivers does something that blows the minds of the other woman around her at in her California home town. She shared that one day she was having lunch with her children and she noticed a table full of other women staring and snickering at her…  and finally one of them got up the nerve to come to her table. The woman stated that her and her friends were watching her with all these kids at the table and were baffled that she was smiling. This woman asked her how in the world could she be so happy?

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3

There was a day when children were valued. I looked at Hannah and her plea and prayer to the Lord to bless her with children. Children were the future of the family. Children carried the promises of God to the next generation. Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel… Hannah, these woman longed for children (some doing unthinkable things to try and get them) and they celebrated them and praised the Lord when He heard their cry.

These woman also had an enemy that made them feel less of a woman because they did not have what they so desired… of course at the root of the instigation was Satan, for Sarah there was Hagar, for Rachel there was Leah, and for Hannah there was Peninnah. It’s interesting to me that the name Peninnah comes from the Hebrew word pinnah and it means corner.

I have learned that the enemy, reveals himself many times as a rival of women of righteousness, and uses these rivals to try and back us in a corner and mock us. Women were once mocked and ridiculed for having no children and now today once you pass that third child… well if you are on baby #4, #5, or #10 you know what I am talking about.

Today woman are often ridiculed and attempted to be made to feel weak and powerless and not a “real” woman because they refuse to bow to the backwardness of modern feminism.

Yes, the rivals are real and they are loud and they can hurt with their vicious words… but so can we if we turn and respond to those who hurt us in like manner.

Hannah chose to keep her mouth closed and her heart opened. She didn’t yield to the mockings of Peninnah and turn to her own connivings to manipulate and twist and worm her way into getting what she desired.

Yes, she lived in a day when children were valued… and she greatly desired a child of her own, yet she also knew to keep them and her desire for them in their proper place of priority.

More on that later…

I am trying to stay in a reasonable word count limit 😉