The Heart of Hannah

You know the Biblical story of Hannah, don’t you? She was heartbroken because she couldn’t have children. The other wife with the kids tormented her. The well-meaning husband asked, “Aren’t I better than ten sons?” Year after year it went. The passage does not say how many years, and I have pondered on this many times. Perhaps we just need to know it was year after year. Until the year they were again at Shiloh for the annual sacrifice, and again, Hannah was so sad in her heart, she couldn’t even eat. (See I Samuel 1).

This time, however, she stood up and went to the temple. She had business with God. I do not think this was the first time Hannah pleaded with the Lord for a child, but I do think this time was different. Hannah had a change of heart. She no longer wanted this child for herself, or for her husband, Elkanah, or even to spite her tormenter, Penninah. She wanted this child for God. So she could give him back to temple service. She didn’t bargain; she didn’t ask for any more children to be hers. It was a simple ‘if, then’ request. ‘If you give me a child, then I will give him to you.’ She recognized that God was in ultimate control and it was up to Him.

At first, the priest did not understand the distraught woman in his temple. He assumed she had been drinking, but when he realized the sincerity of her heart, he told her to go in peace.
The last part of this passage amazes me. It says, when she went away, she no longer had a sad face. God hadn’t promised her anything, she wasn’t suddenly pregnant, she had no idea about her future, but she no longer had a sad face. Why? She had surrendered it to God, completely, and now she could carry peace.

I spent many years studying this passage, trying to figure out Hannah’s formula for conception, wondering why God had closed her womb, as the passage states. I finally had to set aside all my own questions, and trust God completely, whether my future included children or not. I am still learning to trust Him, each and every day. There are many things I have had to surrender in order to “go in peace,” and peace is so much better than a sad face.
Go in peace.