1 Samuel 1:19 – “Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So, in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,(meaning “heard by God”) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She 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.”
“Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word.” So, the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, 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.”
Hannah was an incredible woman! By this point, Samuel was only about three years old; yet, she was sending her toddler live in the house of the Lord forever. What a sacrifice! The bull, the flour, and the wine that Hannah brought paled by comparison. There are few things more appealing than a small child when he or she is asleep in your arms. The soft skin, the downy hair, the curve of the cheeks and the lips, the delicate tracery of the little ears, the trusting little hands reaching to be held – surely Hannah must have admired Samuel many times as she held him…. And yet she gave him up to God’s service, not knowing if she would ever have another child. There are very few mothers who would have been willing to do what Hannah did. When Eli realized the depth of Hannah’s sacrifice, he worshiped the Lord, for he couldn’t do anything else at that point.
APPLICATION: Sometimes modern culture puts so much emphasis on feeling good that we forget that sacrifices may also be a part of life. Hannah’s sacrifice was to bring untold blessings, not only to her family and her, but also to the entire nation of Israel. It was Samuel who would anoint both King Saul and King David. It was Samuel who would try to point the Israelites back to God, and if they failed to return to righteousness, it was certainly not Samuel’s fault. The foundation for Samuel’s ministry was laid by his mother’s sacrifice.
Hudson Taylor was another child for whom his parents had prayed and whom they dedicated to the Lord from the womb. Taylor was a giant of the faith who founded the China Inland Mission, a mission group that grew to a huge number of stations spread across all of China. The work of CIM was always supported by faith contributions. Taylor was fond of asserting that “God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
Sometimes when we lose loved ones, we accuse God of being unkind or unjust, forgetting that God Himself gave His only Son, Jesus, to be born as a man and to die a cruel undeserved death – all for the sins of the entire world.
John 3:16 – 17 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” God sent Jesus, knowing beforehand that Jesus would be betrayed by one of his close followers, handed over to religious authorities, and crucified. The translation from The Message perhaps says it best, “Even the first plan required a death to set it in motion. After Moses had read out all the terms of the plan of the law—God’s “will”—he took the blood of sacrificed animals and, in a solemn ritual, sprinkled the document and the people who were its beneficiaries. And then he attested its validity with the words, “This is the blood of the covenant commanded by God.” He did the same thing with the place of worship and its furniture. Moses said to the people, “This is the blood of the covenant God has established with you.” Practically everything in a will hinges on a death. That’s why blood, the evidence of death, is used so much in our tradition, especially regarding forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22)
Hannah gave up her only son as a living sacrifice so that he could serve the Lord for his whole life. God gave Jesus as a living sacrifice to die for the sins of the entire world. Nicodemus was a ruler in the synagogue, but he was also in search of God’s truth. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night to ask him questions. When Jesus was explaining things to Nicodemus, he told him, “Whoever believes in him (God’s son) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:18 – 21)
Each one of us must answer this question: who do we say Jesus is? Do we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Then we are not condemned. But if we do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then we stand condemned already, just as Jesus told Nicodemus. Do we love light or darkness? Do we love truth or lies? If we live by the truth, we will come into the light.
Perhaps you realize that you have not believed in Jesus. Perhaps you feel that everything about Jesus is a fairy tale for weak people. Try this experiment: ask God to show you whether or not Jesus is real. If you are not afraid to do so, tell God that you are willing to be made willing to believe in Jesus. Then see what God will do. If you are serious about that prayer, God will definitely reveal Himself to you.
PRAYER: Father God, help everyone who reads these words to trust You, the Source of light and life. Reveal Yourself in such a mighty way that there will be no doubt that You ARE the One True Living God and that Jesus IS Your only Son. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
March 17, 2022 at 11:08 pm
I loved the story of Samuels miraculous birth and my favorite story is when he blinded the soldiers setting siege and took them to their enemy only to say give them bread and water and turn them loose. He also kept David in line. I tell people this: Ask God to hit you on the head every time you are doing something He would not like. I did that and finally ended up snotting at God stop that! Enough! He can be very very real…