Give it to God First
1 Samuel 1:10 CSB
"Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears."
Before Hannah was the mother of the great prophet Samuel, she was the poor barren wife of Elkanah. Though it was clear that Elkanah loved Hannah more than his other wife, Peninnah, Peninnah had been able to bear him children. As if the rivalry wasn't enough, Peninnah often rubbed the fact that she could have children and Hannah could not, in her face. How unfair, right? As if the pain of infertility wasn't already enough (because it was often believed in ancient times that infertility was caused by sinful ways or God's lack of love for that woman), Peninnah's comments just added insult to injury. It kind of sounds like the story of Leah and Rachel in the book of Genesis, right? Both sisters, both the wives of Jacob, however, Rachel was barren, and Leah didn't let her forget it. Whether it's looks or fertility, women have compared themselves to others since the beginning of time. However, it's not the insults and the unfairness that define us, but what we do with those heart-wrenching comments that matter the most.
Here, Hannah chose to take her heartache to the Lord. Instead of returning the insults to her rival, she got up from her meal and prayed in the Lord's house. Now, this was a time before the first temple had been built, so Shiloh (which is where the scripture states they were eating) housed the tabernacle of the Lord. And in God's presence, she wept and prayed earnestly that the Lord would give her a child. I love this because it was in her suffering that she chose not to repay her rival, Peninnah, as she deserved, but took her problems and lifted them to the Lord.
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