Good Morning Friends,
“There is no one holy like the Lord, there is no one besides you, there is no Rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)
These are the words of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. They are part of a prayer Hannah prayed on the day she turned Samuel over to the Lord. Samuel was a gift from God, the answer to her prayer for a son after many years of being barren. In response to God’s gift, Hannah promised that she would give Samuel to Him. True to her word, as soon as Samuel was weaned she brought him to Eli the high priest and left him to be raised by Eli in the service of the Lord.
It must have been difficult for Hannah to give her son to the Lord. After all, she had longed with her whole heart for a son for many years. Yet when she received the desire of her heart, she recognized him as the gift of God and returned him to the Lord. And when Hannah gave Samuel to the Lord she did not do so with a grudging heart. She gave Samuel freely and with a heart of praise to the Lord.
God did not demand that she give up her son. And even in giving up her son, she was not losing him, but giving him to God’s service. As Samuel grew and matured it would become obvious that his mother had given him to the Lord so that he might accomplish his highest purpose. He became a great man of God and had a profound influence upon the history of Israel, all because his mother was willing to give him up.
Even as excruciating as the act of giving Samuel to the Lord must have been, Hannah knew God would be faithful to her and to her son. She clung to Him like a Rock, like the one foundation that cannot be shaken.
What Hannah found in the Lord is still true for us. He is perfectly holy – never asking us to do anything that is ultimately harmful to us or to those we love. He alone is God – there is no one else we can turn to who has the strength, wisdom, and compassion that He has. He is still the Rock – the one foundation upon which we can build that will never be shaken.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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