We left last week about
Forgiving ourselves. This week we are going to look at our ability to receive
love. Is there a hindrance in your life holding you back from receiving. Let’s
take a look at Hannah in 1Samuel 1:1-8.Ask God to open your heart to hear if
there is anything holding you back.
Our first impression of love
comes from our parents. How they nurture us, care for us, and are passionate
about us starts the process of that small seed growing where we develop the
idea of who we are as a person. That process also starts helping us understand
how to receive love. If you have ever read the book "The Five Love
Languages" you know that naturally God has instilled in us certain ways we
receive love. In our growing years, those languages can be messed up a bit if
our parents do not lay a solid foundation for us.
Some of us have grown up with
incredible parents that have done nothing but love us unconditionally. They
have walked through hard times with us and still given all they have to help us
find our way. We learned to respect their hand of love in many different areas
of our life. The foundation for us to receive love is strong. Our mistakes may
be the culprit that hinders us.
Sadly, some of us may have
not seen such love and grace from our parents. We have only seen the result of
their inability to love and have grace. We have seen them lash out and hurt
those around them because of their pain or unforgiveness. The toll this takes
on our lives not only affects us, but those around us. Our view of a heavenly
loving Father that is passionate about us seems unreachable, unattainable.
In the bible God specifically
talks about the role parenting has in a child's life. The impact of their
decisions directly affects a child's view of their world. Their ability to
reach out and be in the family God created for them. Jesus said let the little
children come unto to me. So He could love them. He knew their precious hearts
were open to hear a word of love and receive it. In those tender years, we are
sponges that absorb everything around us.
That love for a child is
where we start with Hannah. Let's open up in prayer here and open our Bibles to
1Samuel 1:1 Hannah desperately wanted a child. She wanted to feel life growing
in her like her counterpart, Elkannah's second wife. She dreamed of the day
that she could see her child playing with the other children. When she could
bath them, nurse them, kiss their hurt and soothe their pain. Her heart yearned
for that day. One other note we should make here is that in Hannah's culture,
if a wife did not produce children she was worthless and usually put away. Back
then, women were more property than considered an individual person of value. A
little more than slaves.
The first thing that stands
out to me is in verse 1. The first statement in verse 1 is defining Elkannah's
heritage, not Hannah's. Her lineage does not matter as much as Elkannah's. The
first few verses define her husband more than Hannah. I find it interesting
because it is Hannah's devotion that leads to greatness. Nevertheless, it also
gives us insight into how Hannah may have been feeling about herself. Can you
imagine being one of two wives? Then, the other wife is able to establish
herself more than you because the only reason you are in the relationship with
your husband is to produce children and yet, you can't. But, wait, the bible
clearly states that Hannah was given double portions of everything because her
husband loved her the most. He is trying so hard to show his undying devotion
to her. As if to say, I know she gives me children but you give me love.
Hannah, could not accept that
love. Her heart was so hurt by not giving her husband the one thing that she
thought he needed, a child. The other wife attacked worth daily and her society
told her she had no value. All those things played over and over in her mind. So
much that she could not see a true picture of her situation.
In reality, her husband was
showing her for a very long time that all he needed was her. He gave her
liberties as a wife she should not have had. He did these things because he
loved her. He went as far as to give her double portions. His love and devotion
was so obvious that the second wife was extremely jealous of Hannah. She was so
jealous she taunted her.
But Hannah's pain did not
allow her to see Elkannah's heart. Her
heart was in so much pain, rejection and lacked self worth that she could not
truly see his love for her. She definitely could not receive it. Hannah's pain
was finally to much to bear.
I believe when she laid on
the altar that last time, she gave it all up to God. She drug her suitcase
through those halls. I can see her lugging it behind her. Each step, as it
bangs against another step. Her last bit of strength gone from the heaviness in
her heart. But, she finally takes that last step and just throws herself on the
altar. Her weeping and moaning are so intense the priest believes she is drunk.
This day though, Hannah will
not be daunted. She will not leave this
place with all that baggage. She is ready for the hurting and the pain to
stop. She is taking all she has and
throwing it on the altar, busted and broken. That luggage is not going anywhere
but here today. Here on the altar to be placed before her God. She is finally
asking Him to help rebuild the fractures of her heart. Those remote places that
need a healing hand that only he can heal. A place to re-paint the picture of
her life through His eyes and not her own. As she stood to talk with the priest
she felt just a bit lighter. She was much more confident. She had more love
than when she walked up those steps. This day, she had called on her God to
hear her heart and He did. He overwhelmed her with His love. The kind of love
that cast out fear, that heals the brokenness and frees us from the chains of
our past, our guilt, and our unforgiveness. He took her heart and gave her all
the love she needed. This day, after that long journey, Hannah could finally
receive it.
Today, why don't we take a
moment and just get quiet with God. See if He has anything He wants to show us.
We might not be weeping now, we may even be in a place that we know all of this
but, let's just take a moment and hear. Let's open up our heart's and let the
Holy Spirit speak.
When Samuel was born, I am
sure that the love Hannah had for him was overwhelming. She loved him with all
her heart. She gave all she was as a mother to give him a foundation that would
serve him well as a leader of a nation. Hannah had endured some heart wrenching
moments in her life but those moments were lessons to show her what love was
truly all about.
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