Bible in a Year… Day 79

Quite a bit of catch up reading again today… you definitely don’t want to fall behind too far in this Bible in a Year stuff!

1 Samuel 1:19-22 (NIV)
¹⁹Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”

²¹When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, ²²Hannah 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.”

What an interesting start to Samuel’s life… his mother, childless for a long time, prays and God hears her, giving her a child. Out of gratefulness to the God she worships, she dedicates Samuel to God’s service… giving away the most precious gift she had ever received.

Now that’s faith.

I wonder, how many of us pray for our children in such a manner as Hannah? That God has given them to us, and that we want to offer them back to Him that He might be glorified?

If not, shouldn’t we? I know God has unique plans for each of us, but don’t we, as parents, tend to more often try to impress our will into our kids than His? As if we know better?

I pray that I’ll be willing to trust God with my kids. Not that I want to offer them wholly to God to be raised by strangers as Hannah did Samuel, but simply that I’ll be willing to trust God’s wisdom in how He’s made them… that I’ll be able to guide them to discover their God-given gifts and not try to impress my desires into their lives.

To make the most obvious statement you’ll hear today… parenting ain’t easy, is it?

1 Samuel 8:19-20 (NIV)
¹⁹But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. ²⁰Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

Interesting response here from the people of Israel… “no, we want to be like all the others!”

God’s people, chosen specifically by Him… called out to follow Him… blessed to witness miracles of God we can hardly imagine… wanting to be like other nations.

Funny how we, as Christians, often think similarly. While we know God’s ways our best for our lives, and we understand that devoted faith and obedience leads to a life far better than anything we can imagine on our own… we often want to be like those outside a relationship with Christ. Sin looks fun sometimes… God’s expectations and commands seem too hard sometimes… faith is simply a struggle, and we’re tired sometimes.

We try to do life our way, and wonder why we find ourselves miserable.

Hello?