Participants:
Series Code: GYC
Program Code: GYC190003S
|
00:32 If you would please stand with us
00:34 as we do our last song 00:36 which is gonna be our theme song. 00:48 There's a lost, lonely soul 00:51 Waiting silent at war 00:54 For a rescue To come to the door 01:00 Many could go but I only know 01:05 The name of that One lonely soul 01:10 Oh can you hear 01:13 Our Prince calling on before 01:16 "Let us go and restore 01:22 The broken hearted 01:24 The wounded The captives of war 01:29 Will you bear 01:31 My shield of faith once more?" 01:36 Many more are the souls 01:40 Who are bound up in fear 01:43 As they run through 01:44 The dark far and near 01:47 Though I will fight 01:49 Just one ends the night 01:52 Our Prince Who carries the light 01:57 Oh can you hear 01:59 Our Prince calling on before 02:03 "Let us go and restore 02:08 The broken hearted 02:10 The wounded The captives of war 02:15 Will you bear MY shield of faith once more?" 02:21 To that lost lonely soul I will go and will share 02:27 All their cries, All their fears 02:30 All their prayers 02:33 For it's been told My Prince he does hold 02:38 The tears of that One lonely soul 02:43 Oh can you hear Our Prince calling on before 02:49 "Let us go and restore 02:55 The broken hearted 02:56 The wounded The captives of war 03:02 Will you bear My shield of faith once more?" 03:11 Thank you for singing with us. 03:14 Good morning, GYC. 03:18 Welcome to our morning devotional. 03:20 We're so glad you can be here. 03:21 How many of you were blessed 03:23 by the prayer room this morning? 03:25 The prayer room was packed, wasn't it? 03:28 It is one of the biggest blessings 03:29 that we have every year, and I'm so glad to be 03:33 able to participate in that as well. 03:35 This morning our scripture reading 03:37 is found in 1 Samuel 1:15 and 16. 03:43 1 Samuel 1:15 and 16, and it reads as follows. 03:48 "The Hannah answered and said, 03:51 'No, my Lord, 03:52 I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit. 03:55 I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, 03:58 but have poured out my soul before the Lord, 04:01 do not consider your maid servants 04:03 a wicked woman, 04:04 for out of the abundance of my complaints 04:06 and grief have I spoken until now.'" 04:10 Our message this morning will be brought 04:12 by my friend Sikhu Daco. 04:14 I remember working with Sikhu a number of years ago. 04:17 When I first got involved with GYC, 04:19 Sikhu Daco had already been working with GYC for years. 04:22 And I remember she was one of those people 04:24 who just always had a smile, 04:26 who's always enthusiastic and excited to be doing 04:29 what she was doing. 04:30 And I remember she would stay up late at night 04:32 just trying to get those final details done 04:35 and just one of the most dedicated people you will meet. 04:38 She's now a mother of three children. 04:40 And I'm sure she'll tell you more about that. 04:42 But she works 04:43 with the General Conference Cyber School Department 04:45 as the senior editorial assistant 04:48 for the Inverse Study Guide, 04:50 which is the new young adults study guide 04:52 that you'll be learning more 04:54 about actually closer to the Sabbath. 04:56 So I invite you to open your hearts and minds 05:00 as she shares and I'll open with prayer 05:02 as we continue into our program. 05:05 Father in heaven, Lord, 05:07 we thank You for the opportunity 05:08 to gather here this morning early as it is, 05:12 and to spend this time studying and reading Your Word. 05:16 Lord, we pray that You would be with Sikhu 05:18 that you would bless the word she speaks, 05:20 and You would send Your presence 05:21 to be with us today. 05:23 Give us the strength and the energy, 05:25 and we thank You for Your blessings thus far. 05:27 In Jesus' name, amen. 10:27 Morning, GYC? 10:30 Can I say Happy New Year too? 10:33 Happy New Year, 2020, who thought we would be here? 10:38 Does anyone remember 2000 10:40 those who are old enough to remember. 10:41 Yeah. 10:43 I remember when that happened, it was like, 10:45 we will never get to 2020 and here we are. 10:48 The sad part is, I think for a lot of us, 10:51 we felt like 2020 won't get here 10:52 because Jesus will be here before then, right? 10:56 But the glad part is, if it's 2020, 10:59 His coming was soon then, it's even sooner now. 11:02 Amen? 11:04 This morning we're going to read the Bible together. 11:08 If you have your Bibles turn to 1 Samuel Chapter 1. 11:13 If you have your Bible on a phone, 11:15 you can tap 11:19 to 1 Samuel Chapter 1. 11:22 We're just gonna read the Bible this morning 11:24 and make some observations and pray that 11:26 the Holy Spirit will teach us from His Word. 11:30 Before I pray though, I promised my son 11:33 who is in Zimbabwe with his grandparents 11:35 that I would say good morning to him. 11:37 So, Itai, good morning. 11:39 I love you. Okay. 11:42 All right, now we can start. 11:44 1 Samuel Chapter 1, 11:46 bow your heads with me as we pray. 11:49 Loving Father, we would like to thank You 11:52 for the gift of life. 11:54 And we'd like to ask that You would be our teacher now. 11:56 Lord, you know that 11:57 I have nothing worthwhile to say 11:59 but we trust that the Holy Spirit 12:01 can speak to our hearts through the Word of God, 12:04 I ask that I would be hidden behind the cross 12:06 if there's anything in me 12:07 that could hinder the impartation of this message 12:10 in a clear way that you would remove that 12:12 because we want to hear Your Word today 12:14 and we want to see Jesus lifted up. 12:17 So help us as we study Your Word, 12:19 to be focused on what Your Word has to say to us this morning, 12:23 in Your name we pray, amen. 12:25 1 Samuel Chapter 1, we're reading from verse 1. 12:28 "Now, there was a certain man 12:31 of Ramathaim Zophim of Mount Ephraim, 12:38 and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, 12:41 the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, 12:43 the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 12:45 And he had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah. 12:48 The name of the other, Peninnah. 12:49 And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 12:53 And this man went up out of the city, 12:55 out of his city yearly to worship 12:57 and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. 13:00 And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, 13:03 the priests of the Lord were there. 13:05 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, 13:08 he gave to Peninnah his wife 13:10 and to all her sons and her daughters' portions, 13:13 but unto Hannah, 13:14 he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, 13:17 but the Lord had shut up her womb." 13:20 Let's pause there, 13:21 and we're going to backtrack and read analytically. 13:25 Let's start back in verse 5. 13:26 It says that, "Unto Hannah, he..." 13:30 meaning Elkanah, "he gave a worthy portion 13:34 when it was time to offer sacrifice 13:35 for he loved Hannah." 13:38 We learned something about Elkanah, 13:39 and in these first five verses, 13:41 1 Samuel introduces Elkanah to us 13:43 and the first thing we're going to look at, 13:46 since we're backtracking from here is that 13:47 Elkanah was a loving husband. 13:50 He says that he loved Hannah. 13:56 And he loved Hannah, in spite of the fact 13:58 that the Lord had shut up her womb. 13:59 This is significant because, you know, back then, 14:03 to have children was a very, very important thing. 14:07 And here you have a man married to this woman, 14:09 and she was unable to bear children for him. 14:12 But in spite of her inadequacy, 14:14 so to speak, it says that he loved her, 14:18 because he could have loathed her 14:19 because she was unable to bear children for him. 14:22 But the Bible says that he loved Hannah. 14:25 And this is a beautiful picture 14:26 of what a lot of us are looking for in love. 14:29 Like if you're thinking about getting into a relationship, 14:32 you're like, I want somebody 14:33 who's gonna love me for me, amen? 14:36 You're like, I want a guy who's not gonna see 14:38 how gorgeous I am only, 14:42 but will love my heart, right girls? 14:45 Right? Yeah. 14:46 And guys, you're like, 14:47 I want a woman who's not just gonna see 14:49 my fat wallet or lack thereof. 14:52 I want a woman 14:53 who's gonna love me for who I am. 14:56 And this is something 14:58 we're looking for in relationship. 14:59 So this is the picture of romance, right? 15:03 This is a romantic guy. 15:05 He's like even though you cannot have children, 15:08 I love you and not just love you. 15:10 I love you as if you had children 15:12 because it says he gave her a double portion. 15:14 So when the God sacrificed, it was as if she had children 15:17 when he gave her, her portion. 15:20 He loved her so much. 15:21 Verse 4, it says, 15:23 "When the time was that Elkanah offered, 15:25 he gave to Peninnah his wife." 15:27 In verse 3, it says, 15:29 "The man went up out of his city, yearly." 15:33 So firstly, in verse 4, 15:36 we find that he gave to Peninnah, 15:38 who had a bunch of children, 15:40 he didn't just give her a portion, 15:42 he gave her a portion and her children portions. 15:45 This means that he was a man of means. 15:49 He had money. 15:50 Well, the equivalent thereof in his day, right? 15:55 He was loaded, he was rich. 15:59 This is the picture of romance. 16:02 A man who not only loves you, 16:06 but, you know, he can show you that he loves you. 16:10 And I'm being silly right now, tongue in cheek, 16:13 because you don't have to have money 16:15 to show a woman you love her. 16:16 Amen? Amen. Yeah. 16:18 But, you know, when I was talking 16:20 to a certain young woman who shall go unnamed, 16:23 so I don't embarrass her, but she was like, 16:25 you're going to GYC, you're gonna be on stage, 16:27 can you make an announcement 16:29 that I'm looking for a man, right? 16:33 And give, announced my phone number. 16:35 They can WhatsApp me. 16:38 I think she was joking. 16:40 I'll check with her, and if she wasn't, 16:42 I'll give you her number tomorrow. 16:45 But I said, so my husband followed up and he said, 16:47 "What are you looking for?" 16:49 She's like, "You know what, as long as he loves the Lord, 16:52 and he's got money. 16:54 It's good." 16:56 I don't care about the height no more. 16:58 I'm at that stage 16:59 where the height doesn't matter anymore." 17:02 Like he can be short and fat and bald. 17:05 And I love him. 17:07 If he got the money, and he loves the Lord, 17:09 and that's what this... 17:11 Elkanah loved the Lord? 17:12 In verse 3, it says, "This man went up 17:14 out of his city yearly to worship and sacrifice 17:16 unto the Lord." 17:18 And the Bible puts an important note here. 17:21 It says that the two sons of Eli, 17:24 Hophni and Phinehas, 17:25 the priests of the Lord were there. 17:27 Why does it say that? 17:28 He says that because Hophni and Phinehas were notorious. 17:32 These men did not love the Lord. 17:35 They were serving as priests of God in the temple, 17:38 but they were corrupt priests. 17:43 Actually, it tells us in Chapter 2, 17:44 I'm gonna say it now because I don't have time 17:46 to say it in the future, that they were so bad 17:49 that they made it 17:50 so people did not want to go to the temple. 17:53 You know, those, those Christians 17:55 who they're just so evil, they're wicked, 17:58 that they make it 18:00 so you don't even want to go to church. 18:02 You're just like, I mean, 18:04 if this is the church, I'm out of here. 18:06 Matter of fact, I have a friend of mine, 18:08 a good friend of mine, 18:09 from when I was a student at an Adventist institution, 18:14 I'm not trying to embarrass no institutions here, 18:16 but it's just the fact that 18:18 he left Adventism, Christianity, 18:23 he would proclaim himself to be an atheist. 18:26 And you know where it began? 18:28 Was, he said, 18:30 "If this is the picture of Christianity 18:32 that I'm seeing in my professor," 18:34 who had mistreated him in a class. 18:37 He said, "If this is the picture of Christianity, 18:39 if this is Adventism at its best, I'm out." 18:45 Now, our faith shouldn't be based on people, right? 18:48 My faith shouldn't be 18:50 based on the person next to me and, 18:51 you know, how they're representing Christ, 18:54 but it does affect people, the way we represent Christ. 18:59 And these men were not just churchgoers, 19:01 Hophni and Phinehas, 19:03 they were leaders in the church. 19:05 But this is how faithful Elkanah was. 19:08 Even if his pastor was a hot mess, 19:13 he was going to church anyway. 19:16 Even if the head elder was getting up 19:19 and speaking all kinds of nonsense, 19:20 he was like, "I'm here for Jesus. 19:23 I'm not here for you." 19:24 That is what kind of a godly man Elkanah was. 19:28 He had the trifactor. 19:30 He was godly. 19:32 He was loaded. 19:34 And he loved his woman. 19:39 But go with me to verse 2, I love scripture. 19:42 The Bible is that book that doesn't sugarcoat stuff, 19:45 and it presents characters in the multitudinous facets 19:50 that humanity exists. 19:51 And sometimes we like to do things black and white. 19:53 You know, we're like, 19:55 either you're good or you're bad, right? 19:56 Either you're with us or you're not with us and yes, 20:00 with us and against us and things are black and white. 20:02 But aren't humans complex? 20:05 So you have this guy who loves his wife, 20:08 he gives money to his wife. 20:11 He gives her the resources. 20:12 He shares his wealth with her. 20:13 And he's a godly man. 20:15 He goes to the temple faithfully 20:17 even when others have stopped going to church. 20:19 He's still going, but in verse 2, 20:21 this man made a mistake. 20:24 It says, "He had two wives. 20:26 The name of the one was Hannah, the name of the other Peninnah 20:28 and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children." 20:31 So apparently what happened was, 20:33 he married Hannah, they're happy, they're happy, 20:37 no children, no children, year after year. 20:42 And it's expected that you're gonna have children 20:44 and the children are not coming, 20:46 who's gonna carry on your legacy? 20:48 Who's gonna be Elkanah II. 20:52 And he just wanted children so much 20:56 that he set aside his love for his wife 20:59 and the commitment he made to her before God, 21:02 and he got a second wife. 21:04 When we step outside of God's will for our lives, 21:08 it's never without consequences. 21:11 Sometimes we feel like, 21:12 you know, I can do this thing that's... 21:15 Make things happen in my own way, 21:17 and we feel like it's gonna be a benign thing 21:19 and it's never benign 21:21 because when we step outside of God's will, 21:23 it will always have negative consequences. 21:25 Because what happened was, 21:26 verse 6, "Her adversary," this is Peninnah, 21:30 "also provoked her, provoked Hannah sore, 21:33 for to make her fret, 21:35 because the Lord had shut up her womb. 21:38 So Elkanah marries the second wife 21:40 so he can have children and the children come, 21:44 but also what comes 21:45 with Peninnah is strife in his home. 21:50 I don't need to say this. 21:51 If you're going to get married, marry one person, amen? 21:56 God knew what he was talking about when He said that. 22:01 And here it is now because of Elkanah's terrible, 22:05 terrible mistrust of God's leading 22:09 that his wife is now in a terrible situation. 22:13 She's fretting. 22:14 She's stressed, distressed. 22:19 Why do I say it was mistrust of God? 22:21 The Bible says at the end of verse 5, 22:23 at the end of verse 6, 22:25 it repeats, "The Lord shut up her womb." 22:29 The Lord shut up her womb. 22:33 She was barren, 22:35 because God shut up her womb. 22:41 Is it possible that you could experience 22:44 a negative experience 22:45 because God has permitted that in your life? 22:50 And when the barrenness comes in your life, 22:53 what do you do about it? 22:56 I mean, the Bible here is talking about 22:58 physical barrenness, she could not bear children. 23:02 What do you do about that situation? 23:06 I'm gonna speak to young people now, 23:08 the barrenness has come, 23:09 there's a drought in your life 23:11 and there are no men/no women around. 23:15 What do you do when the drought comes? 23:19 The barrenness has come no matter 23:21 how hard you're working, and you're like, 23:23 I want to be a millionaire by 25 23:25 and here you are 26 and you're not a millionaire. 23:29 What do you do 23:30 when the barrenness comes in your life? 23:34 For some of you are not from America, 23:36 you're from other parts of the world 23:38 where the economics are much more 23:41 difficult than they are here. 23:43 And in order to make a quick buck, 23:45 you might have to do something that is... 23:51 What do you do when the barrenness comes? 23:55 Elkanah, instead of trusting the hand of God, 23:59 the hand that gives only good gifts 24:02 so that you know that even if it's barrenness, 24:04 this barrenness can only be for my good. 24:06 Instead of trusting God's hand, 24:08 he took matters into his own hands. 24:10 He should have known better. 24:12 You have the example of Abraham. 24:15 Remember Abraham? 24:17 God said, you're gonna be a huge nation, 24:20 you're gonna have all these descendants 24:22 and he is waiting and waiting and waiting. 24:24 Yo, I'm 75 and clocks are tickin', 24:27 God, what's happening? 24:29 And they took matters into their own hands, 24:31 he and his wife. 24:32 But what happened? Drama, right? 24:35 Sarah and Hagar, drama? 24:38 They knew these stories, 24:40 Elkanah should have known better. 24:43 But when the barrenness 24:44 came instead of waiting on God and trusting Him, 24:47 he took matters into his own hands. 24:49 I know he could have waited. 24:50 I know he could have waited because we have a story 24:53 in the future of someone that waited. 24:56 Zacharias and Elizabeth, the barrenness came 25:01 and they waited, them too. 25:05 And when the time was right, 25:06 God opened her womb in a miraculous way. 25:09 And it's a beautiful story 25:11 because the both of them waited together. 25:15 What do you do when the barrenness comes? 25:17 Are you Elkanah? 25:21 I know Hannah was not in on this. 25:23 She wasn't in on this plan to bring in Peninnah. 25:25 We know this because she prayed. 25:29 After this... let's, let's keep reading. 25:32 Verse 7, "As he did so, 25:34 he's giving Hannah a double portion year by year 25:38 when Hannah went to the house of the Lord. 25:40 So Peninnah provoked Hannah." 25:44 And then it says, 25:45 "Therefore she wept and did not eat." 25:48 Hannah was a strong woman. 25:49 Because when it says year after year, 25:52 she held it together 25:53 and she pulled herself together and was like, 25:55 "Okay, Hannah, you got this. 25:56 Let's go." 25:58 Finally, after years, one year after another 26:01 of being provoked of the same thing, 26:03 she finally broke down and she was weeping. 26:06 She couldn't hold it in any longer. 26:11 Elkanah, her husband says to her, verse 8, 26:13 "Why are you crying? 26:16 Why aren't you eating? 26:18 And why is your heart grieved? 26:20 Am not I better to thee than 10 sons?" 26:26 So I know I need prayer. 26:31 Because when I read this verse, 26:33 I was like, "If my husband said that to me." 26:37 After he's the one who went and got a Peninnah 26:42 because he... 26:44 I'm not better to him than 10 sons, right? 26:46 But he should be better to me than 10 sons. 26:48 He was gonna get a mouthful. 26:51 That would result in an earful. 26:54 And we'll never say anything like that again, right? 26:58 This is like kind of romantic like, 27:00 "Am I not worth more to you than 10 sons?" 27:03 And not at the same time. 27:05 Like, no, dude. 27:07 I'm not worth more to you than 10 sons, 27:09 therefore I am crying. 27:14 But Hannah was a godly woman and I need prayer. 27:20 Because it says in verse 9, 27:21 "Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, 27:23 after they're drunk." 27:26 In verse 10, "She was in bitterness of soul, 27:28 prayed unto the Lord and wept sore." 27:33 Now when situations come in my life 27:34 and people be acting crazy. 27:38 One of the things that I naturally do, 27:40 this is confession time, I like message my sisters 27:45 and be like, "This is what happened. 27:48 Can you believe? 27:52 Or you know, you call up your girlfriends 27:54 and you're like, "You know what happened was..." 27:58 And it's like, I cannot believe... 27:59 Can you believe... 28:00 "Elkanah would say that to you?" 28:02 "I know, right?" 28:04 Like that is so crazy, like, "Girl, I'm so sorry." 28:07 Like, "I know." 28:09 It's kind of instinctive to call up your girlfriend. 28:14 And I know men do it too, not call up your girlfriend, 28:16 you call up your boys, 28:18 call up your boy and be like, 28:19 "Man, like, you know what, man." 28:23 Man... 28:26 Or, you know, in this generation 28:27 what's easier to do is we take to social media. 28:32 And we post it as our Facebook status 28:36 or we tweet it on Twitter. 28:40 And I want to say this, 28:42 it's almost like we live in a generation 28:44 that encourages complaining. 28:46 Because I was on a flight, right? 28:48 I went on this flight 28:51 and I didn't like what happened on the flight 28:54 the way that I was treated. 28:55 So I went on Twitter. 28:57 And I tweeted and tagged the airline, right? 29:01 And they responded, 29:02 and then eventually I got like a free ticket. 29:06 So I'm like, I'm gonna 29:08 always complain if I don't like the experience. 29:12 It's like we're encouraged to complain 29:13 because if you complain, then you get stuff done. 29:16 You complain, you get perks. 29:18 But Hannah did not go to her friends 29:22 or take to social media and complain. 29:26 What has happened to us as Christians? 29:30 Instead of talking to Jesus, about the situation, like look, 29:35 I had a bad situation on the flight. 29:37 The flight attendant was rude or whatever. 29:40 Instead of praying and saying, 29:41 Lord, what's going on with that woman? 29:44 Can you intervene in her life? 29:47 Help her out because she treated me like dirt. 29:51 Instead of talking to Jesus about it, 29:53 I'm straight up on Twitter. 29:55 You know, bad mouthing some flight attendant 29:57 whose name I don't even know. 30:00 We're complaining generation 30:03 instead of a praying generation. 30:07 Hannah didn't go around complaining 30:09 about her situation she could have but she didn't. 30:11 She took it to Jesus. 30:14 Are we talking to Jesus today? 30:17 Are we talking to Jesus 30:18 about the things that stress us, 30:20 the little nuisances in our lives? 30:25 Over complaining, 30:28 before we talk to the one who can do something about it. 30:31 It says that, "Hannah rose up, she went in bitterness of soul, 30:35 she prayed to the Lord and wept sore." 30:39 Verse 11, "And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, 30:42 if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction 30:44 of thine handmaid, 30:46 and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, 30:47 but wilt give unto thine handmaid a manchild, 30:50 then I will give him to the Lord 30:51 all the days of his life, 30:53 and there shall no razor come upon his head." 30:57 When we're praying for God to bless us, 31:00 am I praying that, Lord if you bless me, 31:03 I'm gonna return this blessing to You. 31:05 I'm praying, Lord, I need to get into the score 31:08 so that I can, you know, 31:10 be a student at Harvard 31:11 or I really need to get into Andrews 31:14 and I need financial aid, and that's it. 31:18 When I started working in the States, 31:21 I was working on a religious workers visa 31:25 which every year 31:27 I was going to renew, renew, renew, 31:29 it's a tiring process. 31:30 It's stressful. 31:31 You don't know if you're gonna be, 31:33 if you're gonna get through or not, 31:34 if you're going back home, like, it's... 31:36 you're just like living in limbo, 31:37 and the time came when my employer could apply 31:43 for a green card for me and they did and I got it. 31:47 Now I remember when I got my green card. 31:49 I was talking to a mentor of mine and I said, 31:51 "Hallelujah, I got my green card." 31:54 Now, you know, 31:56 I can stay here without stressing, 31:58 I can go home without stressing about 31:59 what's gonna happen? 32:00 And he said, "What are you gonna do 32:03 for the Lord now 32:04 that he has given you the green card?" 32:06 And I looked at him like, "I don't know." 32:09 I mean, the never thought never occurred to me, like, 32:14 if God blesses me with this thing, 32:16 how will I return it to Him? 32:19 When we're praying for blessings in our lives, 32:21 does the thought ever cross your mind, Lord, 32:24 if You give this to me, how do I give it back? 32:28 This was Hannah's mentality, 32:30 she said, "God, if You give me a child, 32:32 I'm giving him back to You." 32:35 So, you know, her heart was in the right place. 32:40 It came to pass. 32:42 She continued praying before the Lord. 32:44 Eli, the priest, the high priest, 32:47 he saw her mouth moving and he was like 32:49 something is not right with this woman 32:51 and he went up to her and he's like, 32:54 "What are you doing? 32:55 Like, you know, you're misbehaving 32:56 in the temple." 32:58 And she said, look, I am not trying to, 33:01 you know, make a scene. 33:03 It's just my heart is so heavy. 33:04 She was so emotional that the way that 33:06 she was holding herself, the way she was not composed, 33:10 ill composed, so just that maybe 33:12 she was drunk and she said, I'm not drunk. 33:14 I don't worship idols. 33:16 I worship the living God 33:17 and I don't drink alcohol, amen. 33:20 Okay. 33:21 It's like I'm not drunk, right? 33:23 And then she shared what her burden was, 33:26 something about the way Eli approached her. 33:28 Sometimes people will come at you 33:30 based on their own life experience. 33:33 And they may misunderstand your actions 33:36 because of their own experience. 33:39 Eli's children were sons of Belial, 33:42 he tells us in Chapter 2. 33:44 They were the ones going around acting the fool in the temple. 33:49 And so because he had seen that in his own children, 33:51 he looks at Hannah and he assumes that 33:54 she's acting like his kids were acting. 33:59 And once again, this is a godly woman 34:01 because she doesn't respond in annoyance and, 34:04 "Yeah, how dare you talk to me like that 34:05 you don't know who I am?" 34:07 She doesn't respond that way. 34:09 She says, "No, no, no, my Lord, 34:10 please don't think of me that way." 34:13 She's so humble in the way she responds. 34:16 And when people misjudge you, 34:19 will you respond that way? 34:22 Look, this has happened and happens often, you know, 34:25 young people come to GYC 34:27 and you're gonna be moved by the Holy Spirit 34:29 to go do something. 34:30 Tim was talking last night about, 34:32 "You see something in your church, 34:33 go be the one that does something about it." 34:34 You're gonna go back to your home church, 34:36 and you may start trying to do something 34:38 and people might misjudge you, 34:41 but it's based on their own life experience. 34:43 You follow what I'm saying? 34:45 And how do you respond to that? 34:48 You're like, "Oh, you don't know who I am? 34:50 I'm a GYC attendee. 34:53 And I'm bathed in the Holy Spirit right now." 34:58 How do you respond when people misjudge you? 35:02 Hannah's response was humble. 35:08 And so it says, "Count not thine handmade," 35:10 verse 16. 35:11 "Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, 35:15 for out of the abundance of my complaint 35:17 and grief have I spoken hitherto." 35:21 She took her grieves, 35:22 she took her complaints to Jesus. 35:26 Now here's another side note for you. 35:27 Those of you who are married, 35:29 those of you who hope to be married, 35:30 those of you who are unmarried and never hope to be, 35:32 this is just a note for everyone. 35:33 There are some things 35:35 that you can tell nobody else but Jesus. 35:40 This was that kind of a thing for Hannah. 35:43 Her husband, she was supposed to be with him 35:46 in this thing because two become one 35:48 when you get married, but he is the one 35:52 who was the source of the grief in her life. 35:55 She couldn't talk to him about it. 35:59 There will come situations in your life 36:00 where you can't talk to anybody else about it, 36:03 but you can always talk to Jesus. 36:08 And some things you shouldn't talk to anyone else about. 36:11 You should only talk to Jesus. 36:13 And this is something she came 36:15 and she brought before the Lord. 36:17 Now, if you're looking to get married, and you're... 36:19 you have this fanciful idea that, 36:21 you know, you get married 36:23 and the two of you are peas in a pod 36:25 and do everything together. 36:28 You know, and like, you're like, always in sync, 36:32 you know, it's like, you complete each other. 36:35 Right? 36:37 Like, you finish each other's sentences. 36:41 That is not exactly how marriage goes. 36:43 Anyone married out there? 36:45 Okay, I heard one or two amens, right? 36:48 That's not exactly how marriage goes. 36:50 You get married 36:51 and you're still two individuals 36:54 who become one. 36:57 But you two as individuals need to have a relationship 36:59 with Jesus all by yourself. 37:02 This is why I say, you know what? 37:04 Before you're thinking about getting married, 37:06 before you're like, you know, find, Lord, 37:08 just bring that person into my life. 37:10 You need to say, "Jesus, bring yourself into my life." 37:14 Before I'm committing 37:15 to spend my life with somebody else, 37:17 I need to make sure that me and God, 37:19 we're like this, 37:21 because the going may get tough. 37:24 The going will probably get tough. 37:27 Matter of fact, I will guarantee you, 37:29 when you get married, if you're not yet, 37:31 the going will get tough. 37:33 It will get tough in the sense 37:35 that sometimes you'll be sitting there thinking like, 37:38 "Okay, was I drunk?" 37:41 Like, this is why they say you fall in love, like, 37:44 was I thinking straight? 37:46 And my husband, "I love you, honey." 37:50 This is not a commentary on, like, 37:52 we're actually happily married so far, please, you know, 37:56 keep us in prayer if you ever think of us. 37:57 But times get hard. 38:01 Am I lying? 38:03 Okay, thank you. 38:06 The married people, like, you should be saying amen. 38:07 Like, help me out here, times get hard, 38:11 and when times get hard 38:12 you need to be able to talk to Jesus. 38:15 You need to have that kind of a relationship with the Lord. 38:19 And even when you say you're not married, 38:22 times get hard in your single life, amen? 38:26 And you need to be able to talk to Jesus about it. 38:29 And this is what Hannah did. 38:32 When there was barrenness in her life, she came to God. 38:36 And she said, "Lord, here, 38:40 here's my situation, help me out. 38:43 Nobody else on earth can help me. 38:45 Here it is." 38:48 After she spoke with the high priest, 38:50 he heard what her request was, 38:52 what was going on in her life and he said, 38:55 "Oh, I understand now. 38:57 Well, go, because God will give you 38:58 what it is that you are requesting from Him." 39:04 Verse 19, "They rose up in the morning early, 39:07 worshiped before the Lord, 39:09 returned and came to their house at Ramah. 39:10 And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, 39:12 and the Lord remembered her." 39:14 Amen. 39:17 Jesus will never forget you. 39:20 It may seem like it's been a while 39:22 like you've been talking to him about this for a long time, 39:24 but He will not forget you. 39:27 Don't stop coming to Him. 39:29 Don't give up. 39:30 It says the Lord remembered Hannah 39:32 and the Lord remembers you. 39:34 He hears your cries. 39:36 He hears those things that you talk to Him 39:37 about that nobody else knows. 39:39 He hears you. 39:41 It says the Lord remembered Hannah, 39:44 "Wherefore it came to pass," in verse 20, 39:46 "when the time has come about after Hannah had conceived, 39:48 that she bear a son 39:50 and called his name Samuel saying, 39:51 'Because I have asked him of the Lord.' 39:55 And the man Elkanah 39:57 and all his house went up 39:58 to offer unto the Lord 39:59 the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 40:01 But Hannah went not up." 40:02 Not because she had lost her faith, 40:04 or because after God gave her 40:05 what she wanted, she forgot God. 40:07 No. 40:09 "She said to her husband, 40:10 'I will not go up until the child be weaned, 40:12 and then I will bring him, 40:14 that he may appear before the Lord 40:16 and there abide forever.'" 40:18 She remembered her vow, what she had promised to God. 40:22 "And Elkanah said, 'Do what seemeth good to thee. 40:26 Tarry until thou have weaned him, 40:27 only the Lord shall establish His word.' 40:29 So the woman abode, 40:31 gave her son suck until she weaned him. 40:35 The next verse, it hits home for me, 40:41 because I'm a mother of three who are three and under. 40:46 So I got very young kids. 40:49 So nursing babies is a current experience for me. 40:54 And something happens as a mom 40:56 when you hold your child and you're nursing your child. 40:59 Like there's a bond that develops, 41:04 an inexpressible thing that happens. 41:06 Moms, amen? 41:08 Like... 41:11 And mothers end up being like 41:14 kind of crazy like she bears. 41:19 I read this, this research recently 41:22 that says that women just before, like, 41:26 during pregnancy and then they did the study up 41:29 to two years postpartum, 41:31 that women's frontal lobes actually are functioning less. 41:36 So this is me functioning on less brain capacity. 41:39 Okay? So please pray for me, right? 41:42 Their frontal lobes function less 41:44 because it's like their instinct 41:46 goes into high gear. 41:48 And I think the study is saying biologically 41:51 kind of have to be so because as a mom, 41:53 like taking care of this newborn baby, 41:55 you kind of have to be like a little bit crazy. 41:58 You know, because you're not getting sleep, right? 42:00 But for not getting sleep, 42:02 you're still like hyper protective 42:03 of this little creature that is depriving you of rest, 42:07 but you're just like, "My baby is crying, 42:09 I gotta go." 42:10 You know, and you're just like... 42:12 like, that's kind of what happens, 42:15 you know, when you're nursing your child. 42:17 So when it says in the next verse 42:20 in verse 24, "When she had weaned him, 42:24 she took him up with her, with three bullocks 42:26 and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, 42:28 and brought him 42:29 to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, 42:31 and the child was young." 42:34 So weaning a child, on average, 42:38 they say anywhere between three and five years of age, 42:40 you'd consider child to be weaned. 42:42 And reading the Spirit of Prophecy, 42:44 Ellen White says that Samuel was three. 42:49 She took her little 42:51 three-year-old to the temple. 42:58 Look, we already talked about Hophni and Phinehas, 43:01 like these guys were ridiculous. 43:03 We talked about the fact that the temple service 43:05 had been so corrupted that 43:07 some people would not even go there to worship. 43:09 This woman took her three-year-old child. 43:15 Brought him to that place where we're starting to think, 43:19 my eldest is three, 43:22 was trying to think about where he's gonna go to school. 43:24 If we're gonna homeschool, 43:26 if we're gonna send him to academy, 43:27 like, what are we gonna do. 43:29 And I'm looking at all the schools in our area 43:30 and I'm like, 43:32 "Ah, so tell me about this teacher 43:34 and this one." 43:35 I'm not sending to my child 43:37 to a school that has Hophni and Phinehas as principal. 43:40 No way. 43:43 Hanna took her child to the temple. 43:48 Are you beginning to understand what I'm saying? 43:52 Some of us are like, I'm not returning if... 43:54 I'm not gonna return my tithe to the church 43:56 because I don't trust 43:57 what those leaders are doing with my money. 43:59 Hannah took her three-year-old child 44:02 to the temple. 44:05 We're like, "I'm not gonna be involved in my church 44:07 because I don't trust those people." 44:09 She took her three-year-old child 44:12 to the temple 44:15 because she's not there to worship people 44:19 because she worships the Lord. 44:21 She made a vow between her and God. 44:22 And she trusted her child 44:24 not to Hophni and Phinehas or Eli, 44:27 because Eli had obviously failed in raising his kids. 44:29 She trusted her child to the Lord. 44:35 Look, when you're experiencing barrenness, 44:39 do you trust God or do you pull an Elkanah? 44:43 And when God has blessed you 44:44 and you're experiencing fruitfulness? 44:47 Do you trust that fruitfulness to God all the same? 44:51 Or is it like, "Okay, now that I have this child, 44:54 I'm gonna protect this child. 44:56 I'm gonna make sure that nothing happens to this child, 44:59 the child could be your degrees, 45:00 could be your career, 45:02 it could be your relationship, it could... 45:03 Now that I have this thing, 45:05 I'm gonna make sure that I take good care of it. 45:10 In October of last year, 45:13 I got on a plane with my newborn baby 45:16 who was less than a month... 45:17 Uh-oh, like a month, a little over a month old, 45:20 and with my three-year-old child, 45:23 and we took a trip to Zimbabwe and I went there 45:25 and left him there with my parents 45:27 to stay with my parents for a while. 45:33 Getting on that plane was one of the hardest things 45:35 I did but, you know, 45:36 what was even harder was staying in my seat 45:38 as we took off after we left the airport. 45:44 I wanted to get up and manhandle the pilot 45:48 make him turn that plane around 45:51 and go back and get my baby. 45:56 So I cannot imagine what Hannah did. 46:01 Look, I trust my parents. 46:02 I know he's in good hands. 46:04 He's having a blast. He's having a great time. 46:08 And I see him every day with video chat. 46:11 They didn't have video chat back then. 46:14 And she wasn't leaving him 46:15 with her parents who she trusted. 46:21 But Hannah trusted God. 46:25 Hannah trusted God that much. 46:29 And she said, "God, You're the one 46:30 who gave this thing to me anyway. 46:32 I give it back to you." 46:36 We act like we can control our own lives. 46:39 We act like we can control 46:41 whether we wake up tomorrow or not. 46:43 We act like, "If I worry enough about it, 46:46 I'm gonna be able to change it." 46:49 Jesus said, "Don't fret, 46:51 who has added a cubit to his height by stressing?" 46:56 Trust in God. Trust in God. 47:02 Don't go about it your own way, don't pull an Elkanah. 47:05 Oh, I am gonna go outside 47:07 of God's will to make this happen. 47:08 Don't do that, trust in God. 47:13 And when He has blessed you, don't go about your life 47:16 as if you really have control because you don't. 47:19 And the sad thing is sometimes 47:21 God has to take away those things 47:22 from our lives to remind us that 47:24 we don't have that kind of control. 47:26 So we can remember to trust in God. 47:34 We're starting in 1 Samuel Chapter 1. 47:37 This, for our morning devotions, 47:38 we're gonna stay in 1 Samuel. 47:41 Because this is where the narrative of by many 47:43 or by few is based in, 47:45 but I thought it was fitting to start 47:47 right at the beginning of the book 47:48 because this lays the foundation 47:50 for the by many or by few, 47:52 the kind of person that God can use 47:55 whether they are many people or they're few people, 47:57 is the kind of person who trusts Him. 48:01 He is the person who says, my whole, entire, 48:03 complete unreserved trust is in You, Lord. 48:08 Do you trust God today? 48:13 Do you trust Him that 48:14 He's able to take care of your situation? 48:17 Yeah, you're 35 and single, 48:18 pushing 40, do you trust God still? 48:22 Or are you gonna go outside of the church 48:24 because there ain't no good men in the church. 48:28 Yeah, you're working on your education 48:30 and the finances aren't coming together. 48:32 Are you gonna still trust that God will make a way for you? 48:37 You're looking for a job. 48:41 Are you gonna still trust in God? 48:45 Finances are tight. 48:48 Are you gonna return a faithful tithe? 48:49 Yes, to the church that sometimes you're questioning, 48:52 you know, some of the stuff that's happening, 48:54 but you're not tithing to the church, 48:56 you're tithing to God? 48:58 Are you gonna trust in God? 49:02 Bow your heads with me. 49:08 Lord, it's hard sometimes 49:13 to let go control. 49:15 We think we have control but in reality we don't. 49:18 And we need to learn to just trust You, 49:21 to rest in Your providence, 49:26 in Your care for us, 49:27 to trust that You love us that 49:29 You have our best interests at heart. 49:31 Even when the barrenness comes from You, 49:33 we need to trust that You know what's best for us 49:36 in our barrenness. 49:39 And, Lord, when You give us the gifts 49:41 we need to learn to trust You 49:42 with those gifts to give them back to You. 49:47 Lord, please forgive us for not trusting You, 49:49 forgive us for our complaining spirit, 49:52 forgive us for turning to other places 49:54 instead of turning to You 49:56 when You are the source of all good 49:58 and all perfect gifts. 50:02 Forgive our sin in this thing, 50:03 Lord, because we want You to be able to use us 50:07 to reach a world that is dying. 50:10 And in order to do that 50:11 we need to place our complete trust in You. 50:17 As our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed, 50:20 there's someone here this morning 50:22 who wants to stand up from their seat 50:25 and declare that they want to have the spirit 50:27 that Hannah had, 50:30 the kind of trust that Hannah had. 50:32 I invite you to stand up with me. 50:38 Father, You see the people that are standing 50:40 and You know our hearts, 50:43 You know if some of the people 50:46 standing are doing so just 50:47 because they don't want to look odd 50:49 and everybody else is standing so they are. 50:51 But, Father, I pray that this is a sincere decision 50:54 from our hearts 50:56 that You would help us to trust You. 50:59 Lord, send Your Holy Spirit to bring to mind 51:01 those situations that we're experiencing 51:03 that we need to have a deeper and more sincere 51:07 and fervent and earnest trust in You. 51:09 But make us faithful warriors today, 51:13 by the power of Your Spirit, Your indwelling Spirit. 51:17 We pray these things in Your lovely name. 51:18 Amen. |
Revised 2020-08-14