WEBVTT 00:00:23.370 --> 00:00:25.929 Well, thank you to those ladies. They're all 00:00:25.929 --> 00:00:27.870 great friends. They've been with us so long. 00:00:28.570 --> 00:00:30.370 I should say, you know, three of them are up 00:00:30.370 --> 00:00:33.549 here, but there's a host of other ladies that 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:36.149 just help facilitate or host or open their homes. 00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:38.609 And we feel so fortunate. Being a portable church, 00:00:38.770 --> 00:00:40.329 as you've heard me talk about so many times, 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:42.829 just creates really unique variables that we 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:44.609 have to contend with. And one of those is always 00:00:44.609 --> 00:00:47.070 finding a place to do anything. And so I'm so 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:48.969 grateful for the ladies that have opened their 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:51.530 homes and places in our community that host us. 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:53.850 It just makes it so much easier to do what we 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:56.170 do. So hope many of you ladies will take advantage 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:59.030 of that. All right. Before we start this new 00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:01.869 series called Echoes of Her Faith, I just want 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:04.950 to say a huge thank you to so many of you who 00:01:04.950 --> 00:01:07.849 volunteered on Easter. Easter was last Sunday. 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:10.590 If it feels like a lifetime ago, I'm with you 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:13.469 in that. It was exhausting, but it was wonderful. 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:16.750 We hosted just about 800 people between the two 00:01:16.750 --> 00:01:19.209 services. Yeah, you should clap. And thank you 00:01:19.209 --> 00:01:23.780 to those of you that volunteered. We simply could 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:26.879 not do it without you. We just couldn't. In fact, 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:28.719 we actually got out of here a little bit earlier 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.040 this year than we did last year. And that's a 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.379 testament to your help and your support and just 00:01:34.379 --> 00:01:37.099 leaning in. So many of you did things that you've 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:39.500 never done before, but we just needed the help 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:41.140 and you were there. And so we're so grateful 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:44.099 for that and really appreciate your help in that. 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.400 We're glad that it's over, but anticipating next 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.829 year, if that makes sense. All right, we're kicking 00:01:50.829 --> 00:01:53.709 off a new series today called Echoes of Her Faith. 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:56.090 It's a five -week series that we're going to 00:01:56.090 --> 00:01:58.810 do leading up to Mother's Day, wrapping it up 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:00.829 on Mother's Day. And the intent of this series 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:04.450 is to trace the impact of some of the great women 00:02:04.450 --> 00:02:07.969 of the Bible. And not lost on me as a man is 00:02:07.969 --> 00:02:10.409 the fact that, especially in the New Testament, 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:13.229 a lot of our time and attention is just kind 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:17.289 of the disciples. There's a lot of men that kind 00:02:17.289 --> 00:02:19.669 of dominate the story of Scripture. you will. 00:02:19.849 --> 00:02:21.949 And some of that is just the disciples in the 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:25.150 early church. And those stories are kind of weaved 00:02:25.150 --> 00:02:27.629 throughout the Bible for us. But also in the 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:30.889 scripture are some really incredible women who 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:33.469 had incredible faith and just did incredible 00:02:33.469 --> 00:02:36.069 things that kind of keep advancing the kingdom 00:02:36.069 --> 00:02:38.750 of God, so to speak, and so much that we can 00:02:38.750 --> 00:02:40.870 learn. And so I'm going to kind of give you a 00:02:40.870 --> 00:02:42.590 snapshot of it, and then we're going to talk 00:02:42.590 --> 00:02:45.210 about the first one today. In Hannah, which is 00:02:45.210 --> 00:02:47.490 the story we're going to consider today, we find 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:50.879 hope in waiting. In the story of the woman at 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.300 the well, which is next week, we're going to 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:56.199 look at redemption in brokenness. In the story 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:58.360 of Ruth in week three, we're going to consider 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:01.599 God's faithfulness in uncertainty. In the story 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.379 of the widow and the two coins, we're going to 00:03:04.379 --> 00:03:06.900 consider generosity in lack. And then on Mother's 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:08.740 Day, we're going to wrap it up by looking at 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:12.159 Mary, who we think about surrender and calling. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.020 When God calls you to something profound, like 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:18.340 he did Mary to be the mother of Jesus. What does 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:20.659 surrender look like in those moments of calling? 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.680 So that's the layout of the series. And it's 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:25.419 through their stories that we're going to learn 00:03:25.419 --> 00:03:28.159 and see timeless echoes of faith, inviting us 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:30.460 to trust God more deeply and to live with courageous 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:32.580 faith. And as I mentioned earlier today, we're 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:34.319 going to start with the hope of Hannah, the hope 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:38.620 of Hannah. Certainly there are seasons in life 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:41.000 where hope feels fragile, doesn't it? I don't 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.819 know if you've experienced it. Maybe it can feel 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:46.219 like more of a, if hope feels more of like a 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:48.759 whisper rather than a certain declaration that 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:51.699 you're holding on to, or it's a small flickering 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:54.460 rather than a burning, something that's burning 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:57.759 brightly. And yet it is often in those seasons 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.580 that faith produces its most enduring echo, if 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:03.240 you will. And such is the story of Hannah. Hannah, 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:06.740 whose quiet suffering became a loud testimony, 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.580 whose quiet season of waiting became a loud testimony 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:12.199 that we still talk about and consider all these 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:15.120 years later in her story. Her life reminds us, 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:17.839 this is kind of the one -line summary of her 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.220 life, her life reminds us that hope is not the 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:22.300 absence of pain, but it is the persistence of 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:28.170 hope and trust in the midst of it. Just the number 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:30.810 of people that I know just sitting here today 00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:33.550 and others that I have the privilege of interacting 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:36.889 with, like there is no shortage of suffering 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:40.050 and hardship represented among us. And the hope 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:43.490 of Hannah is a reminder that hope is not the 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:46.879 absence of pain. but it is the persistence of 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:48.959 hope and trust in the midst of it. And most of 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.300 her story, which we're not, I mean, we don't 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:52.920 have time to cover all of it, but most of it 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:54.759 is found in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:57.160 in the first couple chapters in particular, 1 00:04:57.160 --> 00:04:59.939 and 2 Samuel. And the thing that I love about 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:03.040 Hannah's story is that it's deeply human, and 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.439 it's very relatable. I mean, I'll be honest, 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:08.879 when you read the life of Christ, because Jesus 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.360 is obviously Son of God, God himself, like there's 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.980 a part that is just, you just can't quite identify 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:18.920 with, right? Even though it says that he became 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.759 like us and he knew suffering like us and he 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.180 knew temptation and there's a very human side 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:27.060 to Jesus, but there's also a very divine side 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:29.120 to Jesus that we're like, try as we may, we're 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:30.720 just different than him. He's different than 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.350 us. Thank goodness. But you start digging into 00:05:33.350 --> 00:05:35.269 some of the characters of the Bible. That's why 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:36.990 I love the story of Peter in the New Testament, 00:05:37.129 --> 00:05:39.389 the disciple Peter, right? He's so relatable, 00:05:39.389 --> 00:05:41.610 like he's just a knucklehead. And there's a lot 00:05:41.610 --> 00:05:44.209 of knuckleheads sitting here today, including 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:48.769 myself. But Hannah's story is just very human. 00:05:49.610 --> 00:05:52.850 It's just very relatable. in my opinion. It's 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:55.569 a story that's marked by longing. It's a story 00:05:55.569 --> 00:05:57.949 that's marked by misunderstanding. And it's a 00:05:57.949 --> 00:05:59.769 story that's ultimately marked by redemption. 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:02.529 So who is Hannah and what is her story? Well, 00:06:02.569 --> 00:06:04.569 the first thing to know is the context of which 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:06.930 the time, if you will, that she was living in 00:06:06.930 --> 00:06:08.990 in Israel's history was spiritually unstable. 00:06:09.329 --> 00:06:11.209 It's a time known as the Judges. That's where 00:06:11.209 --> 00:06:13.930 we get the book Judges from. And the Bible describes 00:06:13.930 --> 00:06:17.470 it this way in Judges chapter 21. In those days, 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:20.649 there was no king in Israel. And everyone did 00:06:20.649 --> 00:06:25.129 what seemed right to him. Hello, America. In 00:06:25.129 --> 00:06:27.850 those days, and turns out nothing has changed, 00:06:27.949 --> 00:06:29.769 right? Ecclesiastes says there's nothing new 00:06:29.769 --> 00:06:33.209 under the sun. Turns out he's right. In those 00:06:33.209 --> 00:06:35.290 days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:38.569 did what seemed right to him. And in the middle 00:06:38.569 --> 00:06:40.550 of this chaotic society, we meet this family. 00:06:40.810 --> 00:06:44.089 There was a man from Ramothan Zophon in the hill 00:06:44.089 --> 00:06:46.930 country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanan. He 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:50.490 had two wives. More on that in a moment. That 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:53.290 didn't like hit your radar at all? He had two 00:06:53.290 --> 00:06:55.930 wives. You're like, that's normal. It is normal, 00:06:56.029 --> 00:06:57.949 but more on that in a moment. The first named 00:06:57.949 --> 00:07:01.009 Hannah, the second named Paniah. Paniah had children, 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:03.730 but Hannah was childless. So we meet Hannah, 00:07:03.870 --> 00:07:06.569 and that's the primary thing that is kind of 00:07:06.569 --> 00:07:08.930 the leading piece of her story is that she was 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:12.149 childless. So let me first quickly address the 00:07:12.149 --> 00:07:14.699 elephant in the room. within this passage, which 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:17.339 is the polygamous relationship, if you will, 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:19.819 that the Bible seems to condone here in the story 00:07:19.819 --> 00:07:22.579 of Hannah. She was one of two wives. It's a factor 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:24.579 in this story, and you'll see why in a moment. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.860 There's a lot that could be said. This message 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:29.899 is not about polygamy, although there's plenty 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.540 that we could say about that, but I have to address 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:34.060 it because some of you won't be able to move 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:35.699 past it. Like, how is it that he had two wives, 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:39.319 and we're just like, okay, that's good. It's 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:41.699 not the focus of our passage. It's not the focus 00:07:41.699 --> 00:07:43.300 of our time. But here's a few things that I'll 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:45.079 say about it just so we can move through the 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.519 text accordingly. First of all, we shouldn't 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.199 interpret allowance as approval. That's the most 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.389 important thing to know. Allowance is approval. 00:07:53.550 --> 00:07:56.810 Secondly, and this is contextual now, as we speculate 00:07:56.810 --> 00:07:59.529 about God's what I would call permissive silence, 00:07:59.750 --> 00:08:02.110 that's kind of what it seems like here, there 00:08:02.110 --> 00:08:04.689 is at least one key factor to consider. And that 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:07.370 is in societies like this where the male was, 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:10.170 the patriarch was kind of superior, if you will, 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:13.470 or supreme, it was nearly impossible for unmarried 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:15.970 women to provide for themselves. Almost impossible. 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.920 So women were often then, who were uneducated 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.620 and untrained, they would often depend on their 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:24.920 fathers or their brothers or their husbands for 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.699 provision and protection, which meant that unmarried 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:31.360 women were often subject to slavery and prostitution. 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:34.299 That's just the culture that they were in. So 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:38.620 possibly, and it's a speculation from silence, 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:42.450 that's what it is. possibly God may have allowed 00:08:42.450 --> 00:08:46.830 polygamy, in this case, to protect and to provide 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:48.710 for the women who otherwise would have been left 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:51.870 destitute. A man who would have taken multiple 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:53.909 wives to serve as the provider and the protector 00:08:53.909 --> 00:08:56.029 of them all. It's not like he had a girlfriend, 00:08:56.190 --> 00:08:59.809 if you will, okay? Last thing to say, and the 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:02.210 most important thing to say, that whatever may 00:09:02.210 --> 00:09:06.210 have been culturally permissive then is not today. 00:09:06.330 --> 00:09:11.279 Are we clear on that? I'm serious. Culturally 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:14.820 permissive, not so today. And the Bible's very 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:17.620 clear. Go over to the pages in the New Testament. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:21.059 The Bible's very clear about the marital relationship 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.840 between a man and a woman exclusively between 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:27.799 them. It's an important pause to clarify because 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:30.200 it's a weird part of the story for sure, right? 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:32.080 You read this and you're like, man had two wives 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.899 and one had children and the other one didn't. 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:35.990 You're like, well, first of all. What's the deal 00:09:35.990 --> 00:09:38.090 with two wives? That's the bigger problem, right? 00:09:38.309 --> 00:09:40.509 So you have to pause here just to clarify it 00:09:40.509 --> 00:09:42.649 because it is a weird part of the story, but 00:09:42.649 --> 00:09:44.750 it is not the main part of the story for Hannah. 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:46.950 So then let's go to the main part of Hannah's 00:09:46.950 --> 00:09:50.509 story. In ancient Israel, to be barren, to have 00:09:50.509 --> 00:09:52.909 no children was more than just a private sorrow. 00:09:52.990 --> 00:09:56.070 It was a public stigma. It was a public stigma. 00:09:57.129 --> 00:10:00.830 It carried cultural shame. It often carried spiritual 00:10:00.830 --> 00:10:03.629 misunderstanding, like somehow God was displeased 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:06.090 with you or you had done something to make God 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:09.029 mad. A woman without a child or children was 00:10:09.029 --> 00:10:11.710 frequently viewed as being under divine disfavor 00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:15.250 from God. And so that's the stigma that Hannah... 00:10:15.789 --> 00:10:18.690 carries and it's magnified by the fact that this 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:21.090 other wife in the same relationship in the same 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:24.149 family had children and she did not and so if 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:27.070 you're just a spectator on the wall so to speak 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:30.009 you're like okay you you did something to upset 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:33.110 God and you must have the favor of God There 00:10:33.110 --> 00:10:35.909 was a stigma that came with it. Hannah was barren, 00:10:35.909 --> 00:10:39.029 but her pain was layered. Not only was she barren, 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:42.169 but she was often provoked by Paneah, the other 00:10:42.169 --> 00:10:44.809 wife. She was misunderstood by her husband, and 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:47.090 she was emotionally exhausted from it all. And 00:10:47.090 --> 00:10:49.009 I tell you this because you can read it in her 00:10:49.009 --> 00:10:50.750 story. I'm going to show you this. Her rival, 00:10:50.970 --> 00:10:54.649 that's the second wife, would taunt her severely 00:10:54.649 --> 00:10:57.629 just to provoke her. Because the Lord had kept 00:10:57.629 --> 00:10:59.570 Hannah from conceiving. Year after year, she 00:10:59.570 --> 00:11:01.649 went up to the Lord's house. Her rival taunted 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:05.330 her in this way. Hannah would weep and not eat. 00:11:05.429 --> 00:11:08.029 Hannah, why are you crying? Her husband Elkanan 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:11.309 would ask. Why won't you eat? Why are you troubled? 00:11:11.809 --> 00:11:14.950 Am I not better to you than ten sons? Oh, the 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:18.289 arrogance of that man. Am I not better to you 00:11:18.289 --> 00:11:20.409 than ten sons? And so when I said she's misunderstood 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:24.029 by her husband, case in point. He's like, what 00:11:24.029 --> 00:11:26.860 do you need? all these children for that you 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:32.100 have me. I tell Kendra that all the time. Just 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:36.860 kidding. I know my place. But the key phrase 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:41.860 in this passage is year after what? Year. Like 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:47.059 this wasn't a momentary three -week, one -month, 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.759 six -month kind of deal. But this was a prolonged 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.139 season of unanswered prayer. unanswered prayer. 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:59.700 Like, she had been longing for so long for a 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:02.519 child, and yet layered on top of the grief of 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.080 that is the fact that she's being taunted by 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.720 this other wife who does have children, even 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:09.639 her own husband, who's like, what's the big deal? 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:13.440 Why are you so sad? There was a heaviness to 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.360 what was largely a silent suffering for her. 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:18.259 And this is where I think some of you in the 00:12:18.259 --> 00:12:20.679 room lean in. You're like, oh yeah, that kind 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:24.240 of describes my situation. There's a heaviness 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.940 to a silent suffering, meaning you can put the 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:31.440 look on and say, I'm good. How are you? I'm fine. 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:35.899 I'm fine. There's a heaviness to this, this silent 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:37.899 suffering, and it's something that she was mostly 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:40.799 internalizing. Although she would weep, she would 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.860 not eat, she carried a grief that others couldn't 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:48.299 fully see or understand. You know, I would say 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:50.419 with a lot of sensitivity, probably very similar 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:53.419 to women and couples today who face the journey 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:57.379 of infertility themselves amongst other hardships 00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:01.919 that we all face. But the path of infertility 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.519 is hard. It is painful. It is often somewhat 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:08.759 silent suffering, if you will. There's a longing 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:12.139 there that few people understand. Even her own 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:13.879 husband tried to comfort her. Hannah, why are 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.899 you weeping? Don't I mean more to you than 10 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:18.899 sons? And of course, he's well -intentioned. 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.259 He's absolutely well -intentioned, but not the 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.399 solution to this deep grief that Hannah carried. 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:26.679 Hope is not dependent. There's a key point to 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:29.100 make. Hope is not dependent on being fully understood 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:32.159 by others, but it is anchored in being fully 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.559 understood by God. Being fully understood by 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:40.120 God. Nothing, I think, can discourage our sense 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:42.580 of hope more than others around us thinking we're... 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:47.070 crazy, weak, unreasonable, irrational because 00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:53.409 of that silent grief that we may carry. And quite 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:56.409 honestly, very transparently, there are some 00:13:56.409 --> 00:14:00.350 things that my heart hopes for, particularly 00:14:00.350 --> 00:14:02.950 as I think about our journey with our daughter 00:14:02.950 --> 00:14:07.309 that we are on, and that most of you just wouldn't 00:14:07.309 --> 00:14:12.230 quite understand. And that's okay. I don't expect 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:17.090 you to I don't need you to. That's the reality 00:14:17.090 --> 00:14:19.049 of some of these things that we carry close to 00:14:19.049 --> 00:14:22.049 the chest sometimes is that it feels like even 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:24.389 the most well -intentioned people around us don't 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:27.309 fully understand and nothing can crush our sense 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:29.789 of hope quite like people's response of like, 00:14:29.929 --> 00:14:32.450 get over it. What's the big deal? What's the 00:14:32.450 --> 00:14:35.509 problem? And so hope is not dependent on being 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:38.129 fully understood by others. It's anchored in 00:14:38.129 --> 00:14:40.629 being fully known by God. This hope is not dependent 00:14:40.629 --> 00:14:43.309 on being fully understood by others. but rather 00:14:43.309 --> 00:14:46.610 being fully known by God. So you keep reading. 00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:49.029 1 Samuel, you see Hannah, instead of turning 00:14:49.029 --> 00:14:52.889 bitter, she turns faithful. Her hope, her grief 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:55.129 drove her back to God. This is the turning point 00:14:55.129 --> 00:14:57.830 in her story. This is in verses 9 and 10. On 00:14:57.830 --> 00:15:01.409 one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and 00:15:01.409 --> 00:15:03.730 drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on 00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:05.570 a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple, 00:15:05.710 --> 00:15:09.120 deeply hurt. Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.320 with many tears. So this is a moment of honesty. 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:13.799 This is a moment of vulnerability for Hannah. 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.960 She doesn't suppress her pain. She doesn't deny 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.299 her longing. She brings it fully and honestly 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:22.379 before God. And here's her prayer in verse 11. 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:26.360 Making a vow, she pleaded, Lord of armies. If 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.120 you take notice of your servant's affliction, 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:30.799 remember and not forget me and give your servant 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.179 a son. I will give him to the Lord all the days 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:36.279 of his life and his hair will never be cut. She's 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:38.779 just keeping in accordance with some of those 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:42.240 laws. And three things stand out in her prayer. 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:44.840 She's honest, right? She's naming her pain. Like, 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.320 if you will take notice of your servant's affliction. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:50.799 She's honest about it. She's humble. She refers 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.279 to herself as your servant. And she surrendered, 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.220 offering back to God the very thing that she's 00:15:56.220 --> 00:15:59.700 asking God to give her. She surrendered. Hannah's 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:01.919 prayer is an example of surrendered hope, not 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.580 transactional faith. And it's so important that 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:07.519 you understand and differentiate between those 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.139 two. This is a distinction that is so important 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:12.600 to understand. Bargaining with God is not the 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:18.210 same as placing our hope and faith in God. There 00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:22.210 are too many names for me to even remember over 00:16:22.210 --> 00:16:26.610 my time as a pastor of people who wanted to bargain 00:16:26.610 --> 00:16:29.950 with God. And then when they got what they wanted 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:32.889 from God, I never saw or heard from them again. 00:16:34.230 --> 00:16:36.750 It has nothing to do with me, but the fact that 00:16:36.750 --> 00:16:41.169 they like press into God because it's a 911 situation 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:44.710 and I need this. And God, if you would come through 00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:47.700 for me. And then I'll just carry on with my life. 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:52.799 And Hannah's an example of not transactional 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.580 faith, but like surrendered hope. Like, God, 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:56.360 if you will give me this son, I will actually 00:16:56.360 --> 00:17:00.399 give him back to you. This is not transactional 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.610 here. This is surrendered hope, placing my hope 00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:06.609 in the fact that you know and see the longings 00:17:06.609 --> 00:17:08.630 of my heart. Imagine holding something tightly 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:11.309 in your hands, whether it's a dream or a desire 00:17:11.309 --> 00:17:14.609 or a future that you planned, whatever it is 00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:17.470 that your heart just longs for today. And now 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:19.690 imagine God asking you to open your hands, not 00:17:19.690 --> 00:17:22.089 just to receive it, but then to release it. No 00:17:22.089 --> 00:17:24.170 sooner do you get it and then you give it back. 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.430 And that's exactly what Hannah was praying for 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:29.150 and committing to. That's the example we see 00:17:29.150 --> 00:17:31.839 in Hannah. Not just praying for a child, but 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:33.680 praying with open hands. And transformational 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.759 hope is hope that actually surrenders. If your 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:41.359 hope is transactional with God, it's not enduring. 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.720 It will not stick. Because one of two things 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.359 will happen. Either you will get it and you will 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:48.319 carry on your merry way, or you won't get it 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.880 and you'll get mad and carry on your merry way. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.660 But if it's surrendered, then there's transformation 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:58.519 in that. And there's a stickiness to it that 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:01.140 takes root in your soul when it's surrendered. 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:03.619 Why? Because that's all it is, is hope. It's 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:06.440 not a certainty. It was not a certainty that 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.240 the Lord was going to answer her prayer. Which 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:11.140 means then that we surrender. The transformation 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:13.220 comes through the act of surrender. Why? Because 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:16.380 it feels scary. That's where you're... growing 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:18.640 the most in those moments where it feels scary. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.559 The things that are easy for us are not the things 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:23.539 that produce the most growth in us. You've experienced 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:26.319 that even in your own life, for sure. For sure. 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.900 The times that you're most scared are often the 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:31.700 times where there's the most growth happening 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:34.420 within us. And so that's the act of surrender. 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:38.099 Let's keep reading in verse 12 to 14. While she 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:40.059 continued praying in the Lord's presence, Eli 00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:42.920 watched her mouth. Hannah was praying silently, 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.099 and though her lips were moving, her voice could 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:48.180 not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:51.079 to her, how long are you going to be drunk? Get 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.660 rid of your wine. There's some humor in the Bible. 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:56.519 If you can't appreciate it, I can. Imagine that. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:00.200 You're in this place of deep sorrow. You're pouring 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:02.299 out your heart before the Lord. You're in anguish, 00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:04.259 and someone else comes along that doesn't understand, 00:19:04.339 --> 00:19:06.599 even to the point of accusing you of being drunk. 00:19:07.969 --> 00:19:10.349 But Hannah's response is one of grace towards 00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:12.930 this confused, well -meaning priest. Verses 15 00:19:12.930 --> 00:19:15.950 and 16. Now my Lord, Hannah replied, I am a woman 00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:19.950 with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:22.690 beer. I don't think they had beer there. That's 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.309 a modern day translation. I haven't had any wine 00:19:25.309 --> 00:19:27.049 or beer. I've been pouring out my heart before 00:19:27.049 --> 00:19:29.130 the Lord. Don't think of me as a wicked woman. 00:19:29.289 --> 00:19:31.430 I've been praying from the depth of my anguish 00:19:31.430 --> 00:19:34.750 and resentment. I mean, you want to talk about 00:19:34.750 --> 00:19:39.289 honesty and vulnerability in prayer. And then 00:19:39.289 --> 00:19:41.369 shortly after this moment of confusion in the 00:19:41.369 --> 00:19:42.970 temple, there seems to be another shift. This 00:19:42.970 --> 00:19:57.069 comes in verse 17. Eli responded, So if you just 00:19:57.069 --> 00:20:00.430 pause here, I would just point out that nothing 00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:03.349 has changed externally with her circumstances. 00:20:04.569 --> 00:20:08.220 She is still... childless. She is still barren 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.660 at this point in the story. Her circumstances 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.500 are still difficult, but internally it seems 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:18.140 as though something in the form of hope is beginning 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:20.660 to actually take root in her heart and in her 00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:23.220 soul. It seems as though Hannah is finding peace 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:25.980 before the answer comes, if you can catch that. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.119 Corrie ten Boom said, never be afraid to trust 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.720 an unknown future to a known God. And that's 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.480 the example that we see in Hannah. There's an 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:38.140 unknown future, but I'm trusting it to you through 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:39.799 surrender. I mean, we see that in her prayer. 00:20:39.900 --> 00:20:42.259 We see that even in her response to this confused 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:44.940 priest who thought she was drunk. And so Hannah 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:48.759 leaves the temple, not with a child, but with 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:52.440 deep trust in God. Not with a child, but with 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:54.599 deep trust in God. And then it keeps going in 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:58.599 verse 19. The next morning, Elkanah and Hannah 00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:02.259 got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterwards, 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:05.839 they returned home to Ramon. Then Elkanah was 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:07.900 intimate with his wife, Hannah, and the Lord 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:10.259 remembered her. After some time, we don't know 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:13.039 how long, Hannah conceived and gave birth to 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.420 a son. She named him Samuel because she said, 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:20.119 I requested him from the Lord. I love that sentence, 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:24.299 the Lord remembered her. What a beautiful declaration. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.579 What a beautiful declaration. We should be careful 00:21:28.579 --> 00:21:31.000 to not misunderstand, though, this to mean that 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:33.829 God had forgotten her at some point. And then 00:21:33.829 --> 00:21:37.589 suddenly like, oh, shoot, Hannah, yeah. I forgot 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:39.289 about her. She's been waiting for this child. 00:21:39.750 --> 00:21:42.329 We should not interpret it that way so much as 00:21:42.329 --> 00:21:45.630 rather this came to the point where God acted. 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:48.650 You could even use the word finally if you want 00:21:48.650 --> 00:21:52.869 to. God acted. So this isn't God suddenly remembering. 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:57.549 This is simply God acting, which is a reminder 00:21:57.549 --> 00:22:00.529 that God's timing is not random, but it is rather 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:04.380 purposeful. I don't have the time to go into 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:07.220 the story about how I landed as a church planter 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:09.519 at Living Branch Church, as opposed to another 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.420 opportunity. Some of you heard that story, of 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:13.440 course, but as another opportunity that I was 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.640 pursuing that I wanted so desperately. And it 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.359 didn't happen. And then three years later, this 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:23.480 happened. And thanks be to God. Amen. So God's 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:28.259 timing is not random. But it is purposeful. It 00:22:28.259 --> 00:22:30.200 wasn't as though God was like, man, I'm just 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:33.539 so sick of hearing Hannah cry in the temple. 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:39.019 Like, fine. Here you go. Have a kid. Have a son. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:44.220 It's not random. It's very, very purposeful. 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.900 And Samuel, whose name means God has heard or 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:52.250 heard by God or requested from God. multiple 00:22:52.250 --> 00:22:54.789 ways to interpret that, would go on to become 00:22:54.789 --> 00:22:56.829 the final judge and one of Israel's greatest 00:22:56.829 --> 00:22:58.769 prophets who anointed the first two kings of 00:22:58.769 --> 00:23:03.549 Israel. And there's a story, the story told, 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:06.549 you may be familiar with it, the story told of 00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:09.049 bamboo trees, something we know nothing of and 00:23:09.049 --> 00:23:11.069 have nothing around here that resembles that. 00:23:11.450 --> 00:23:15.880 Anyhow, my understanding is that The way that 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.599 they grow is that you plant them and years of 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:21.940 planting, nothing really appears before above 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:25.680 the ground. Just kind of dormant almost, if you 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.119 will. And then the seed is watered, it's nurtured, 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:29.859 it's cared for. There's no visible growth that 00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:31.539 occurs for some extended period of time. And 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:33.240 then suddenly in a short span of time, it just 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.279 shoots up rapidly several feet in a matter of 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:40.319 several weeks or a month. And you can liken that 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.960 to... A lot of what this story looks like for 00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:47.200 Hannah and even for us, growth wasn't sudden. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:50.400 It was hidden. Roots were being developed. And 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.960 then in God's good and perfect time, he says, 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:56.519 now's the time. And the growth comes and the 00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:01.339 plant sprouts, if you will. There's a picture 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:03.660 of Hannah's years of waiting with hope. These 00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:05.519 weren't wasted years. They were establishing 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:07.460 roots of faith. And then comes the hard part. 00:24:08.189 --> 00:24:11.250 God heard her cry. He's answered her plea for 00:24:11.250 --> 00:24:13.789 a child. But the question that looms is, would 00:24:13.789 --> 00:24:16.130 she fulfill her end of the vow? Because remember 00:24:16.130 --> 00:24:18.190 what she said to God, if you will give me this 00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:21.029 child, I will give him back to you. So here comes 00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:25.289 the moment. 1 Samuel 1, 27 and 28. I prayed for 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:28.710 this boy. And since the Lord gave me what I asked 00:24:28.710 --> 00:24:31.990 him for, I now give the boy to the Lord. For 00:24:31.990 --> 00:24:34.170 as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord. 00:24:34.809 --> 00:24:37.900 Then he worshiped the Lord there. So after Samuel 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:40.839 is weaned, she brings him to the temple. And 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:43.740 can you just imagine that moment? Imagine that 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:46.839 moment. The child that she so longed for and 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:49.680 prayed so earnestly for, they answered to years 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.920 of prayer, and now this moment that she is going 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.660 to surrender this child back to the Lord. If 00:24:56.660 --> 00:24:58.319 you've been here on a Sunday when we do a child 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:00.180 dedication, that's the picture of child dedication, 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:03.039 is believing that our children, if we have them, 00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:06.759 for those of us who do, are gifts from God that 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:09.200 we are saying, this child does not belong to 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:12.619 me, it belongs to God. And I give this child 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:15.240 back to God, knowing he's a gift or she's a gift 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:21.660 from the Lord. And I would just say, if you contextualize 00:25:21.660 --> 00:25:25.299 it in the story of Hannah, hope doesn't end when 00:25:25.299 --> 00:25:27.420 the prayer is answered. It matures us when we 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:30.559 trust God with the outcome. And again, it goes 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.460 back to that idea of how we view God as a transactional 00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.400 faith that I can bargain with God and get what 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.940 I want. If that's the case, then when you get 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:41.299 it, there's no need for enduring hope at that 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:43.799 point, is there? You have what you need. You 00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:47.099 have what you wanted. Then as you go into chapter 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:52.039 2, I said her stories in 1 Samuel chapters 1 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:53.980 and 2, you find what's called Hannah's song. 00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:57.720 And you could really call it a theology of hope. 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:59.640 It's a prayer that is really a song of praise. 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:03.559 And one of the most profound, beautiful, theological 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:06.079 declarations in the whole Bible. It's the first 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:08.779 10 verses of chapter 2. I'm only going to read 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:10.740 the first two. It reads this way. Hannah prayed. 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:13.559 This is her song. My heart rejoices in the Lord. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.579 My horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:19.380 over my enemies. Remember, she had been taunted 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:22.849 for so long. All of her, even the other wife 00:26:22.849 --> 00:26:25.869 in this family and people in her society, they 00:26:25.869 --> 00:26:28.069 taunted her like, you must be under the judgment 00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:31.529 of God. My mouth boasts over my enemies because 00:26:31.529 --> 00:26:34.009 I rejoice in your salvation. There is no one 00:26:34.009 --> 00:26:36.970 holy like the Lord. There is no one beside you 00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:40.609 and there is no rock like our God. There are 00:26:40.609 --> 00:26:42.789 all sorts of truths in Hannah's song, but a few 00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:44.630 that are prominent that we see clearly is that 00:26:44.630 --> 00:26:47.849 God reverses fortunes. God lifts up the lowly. 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:51.369 God humbles the proud and God is sovereign over 00:26:51.369 --> 00:26:56.009 all, over all. And her personal story became 00:26:56.009 --> 00:27:00.269 a universal testimony of who God is. Like Samuel 00:27:00.269 --> 00:27:05.690 was a big deal. He was a big deal. And his story 00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:09.250 traces to this mother who prayed in a place of 00:27:09.250 --> 00:27:13.039 grief and surrender. Hannah's suffering refined 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:16.259 her understanding of God and her hope deepened 00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:18.539 because of it. And so the question is, is what 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:21.200 can we learn from Hannah? What can we learn from 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:23.099 Hannah? And by the way, this is not a story just 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:29.440 about infertility. It's about unmet longings 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.119 of our soul. And how do we step into that place 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:35.240 of hope in the midst of longing, in the midst 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.759 of waiting, in the midst of like, is it ever 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:40.839 going to change? Is it ever going to be different? 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:42.359 Is it ever going to feel different? Is it ever 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:44.500 going to happen? Is it ever going to go away? 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.880 Whatever the longing in our soul can be, that's 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:51.440 what this story is about. So what can we learn? 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:52.940 I'm going to give you five things. I'm going 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:54.900 to move through them pretty quickly. If you don't 00:27:54.900 --> 00:27:56.440 get them, they're in the Sunday Hub. You can 00:27:56.440 --> 00:27:58.819 get it all there in the app. First is this. Hope 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:01.859 is forged in hardship. Hope is forged in hardship. 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:05.259 Hannah's faith, if you think about it, did not 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:09.099 grow despite her pain, but through it. I don't 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:10.819 know that we would know of Hannah if it weren't 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:14.700 for the pain. So hope is forged in hardship. 00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:16.859 You've experienced it. You may be experiencing 00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:19.759 it now. Hope is forged in hardship. Number two, 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:23.500 prayer is the language of hope. Prayer is the 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:26.220 language of hope. It's impossible to read Hannah's 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:28.640 story and not to understand and not to see it, 00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:32.329 I should say, that... In her deepest places of 00:28:32.329 --> 00:28:34.849 grief and agony and suffering, she was in the 00:28:34.849 --> 00:28:36.950 temple praying. She was pouring out her heart 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.369 in anguish, so much so that people thought she 00:28:39.369 --> 00:28:42.329 may be drunk because it's like, this seems weird. 00:28:42.849 --> 00:28:45.450 This seems excessive. Whatever it is, like the 00:28:45.450 --> 00:28:49.509 prayer is the language of hope. How do you describe 00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:52.369 hope? How do you describe hope? In the Bible, 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:54.910 we see it as a form of prayer. That's the language 00:28:54.910 --> 00:28:57.819 of hope is through prayer. She didn't withdraw 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:00.160 in her pain and suffering. She engaged God more 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:06.420 deeply through prayer. Thirdly, peace can precede 00:29:06.420 --> 00:29:10.700 the answer. Her countenance changed before her 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:16.319 circumstances did. And I got a weird reminder 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:20.920 of this just yesterday through my wife. Someone 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:23.460 reached out to her that we do not know. that 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:27.220 his daughter has a similar diagnosis to ours, 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:33.720 very rare. And it kind of, when you live in a 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:36.299 reality every day, it just becomes your reality. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:37.960 You don't think about it very much sometimes. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:51.099 And, but it's all just... You'll be right there. 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.569 Oh, I'm back. Okay. My friend Luke's here today 00:29:55.569 --> 00:29:57.150 and he reminded me that the last time he was 00:29:57.150 --> 00:29:59.329 here, the sound system didn't work. And so Luke, 00:29:59.410 --> 00:30:01.490 wherever you are, dude, you're not coming back. 00:30:02.650 --> 00:30:06.289 This is it. I promise you that hasn't happened 00:30:06.289 --> 00:30:09.650 since the last time you were here. So you think 00:30:09.650 --> 00:30:11.630 I'm kidding. I'm not. Luke's not coming back. 00:30:13.329 --> 00:30:16.970 Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah. So we got this 00:30:16.970 --> 00:30:22.440 unexpected reminder of... a reality that sometimes 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:26.819 we have found some peace with, even though we 00:30:26.819 --> 00:30:30.200 don't have the answer, if that makes sense. Like, 00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:33.680 we kind of live in this place of hardship and 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:39.240 longing, but there's a peace to it. And sometimes 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:42.099 in moments that get poked, you're just like, 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.720 oh yeah, that's still here. That's still a thing. 00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:52.119 But in Christ, through God, We sometimes get 00:30:52.119 --> 00:30:55.700 peace even though we don't have the answer. And 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:58.319 that's what hope does. And that's why prayer 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.000 is the language of hope, because it grounds us 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:03.839 in a place of peace. To say, even though my circumstances 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:09.720 may still be whatever they are, God has not forsaken 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:13.339 me, and God is in this with me. And remember, 00:31:13.460 --> 00:31:17.319 she left the temple barren, but her whole... 00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:22.420 countenance changed, you feel it in her words 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:25.519 and in her prayer and all of those things because 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:30.460 she had a deep trust in God. That's what hope 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:32.519 does is it grounds us in the truth of who God 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:34.900 is and in the character of who God is independently 00:31:34.900 --> 00:31:37.960 of our circumstances. So peace can precede the 00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.640 answer. Number four, God's delays are not God's 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:48.640 denials. The caveat to this is to say, Not everything 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:54.660 ends in yes. So I want to be clear with you in 00:31:54.660 --> 00:31:58.420 that regard. Just because it hasn't happened 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:00.319 yet, I can't tell you if it will or if it won't. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:03.779 But what I can tell you is that God's delays 00:32:03.779 --> 00:32:05.819 are not, maybe I should have put the word in 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:09.440 there, always God's denials. We've seen it in 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:11.559 the story of Hannah. We don't know how long. 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:13.839 We suspect it was a longer period of time than 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:16.519 shorter, right? And she just had this longing. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:19.980 Remember the term, year after year. And you can 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:22.220 interpret that to say it was not abandonment, 00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:24.960 but rather it was preparation. It was preparation 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:27.279 for what God was going to do when Samuel was 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:29.859 born and this act of surrender in the temple 00:32:29.859 --> 00:32:33.319 and then all the generations and the lives that 00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:35.140 would be impacted by the life of Samuel. And 00:32:35.140 --> 00:32:38.119 so this was not abandonment. This was preparation 00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:41.619 for Hannah. And then the fifth thing that I would 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:43.980 say from this story is that surrender is the 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:47.099 ultimate expression of hope. Surrender is the 00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:51.119 ultimate expression of hope. She gave back the 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.059 very thing that she had prayed for. She gave 00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:57.920 back the very thing she had prayed for. And Hannah's 00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:59.940 story doesn't end with Samuel. Her faith echoes 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:04.140 forward. Samuel anoints kings. He shapes a nation. 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:07.279 He becomes a bridge between chaos and covenant. 00:33:08.970 --> 00:33:13.509 his life had a profound impact. And it all began 00:33:13.509 --> 00:33:16.549 with a woman who chose hope in the midst, middle 00:33:16.549 --> 00:33:19.950 of heartbreak. I love the quote from C .S. Lewis. 00:33:20.049 --> 00:33:22.410 He said, hardships often prepare ordinary people 00:33:22.410 --> 00:33:26.930 for extraordinary destiny. And we are ordinary 00:33:26.930 --> 00:33:30.170 if we are anything. Amen. We are just ordinary 00:33:30.170 --> 00:33:33.750 people. We are ordinary people that know hardships 00:33:33.750 --> 00:33:37.630 and To his point, they prepare ordinary people 00:33:37.630 --> 00:33:42.130 for extraordinary destiny. We sit here with the 00:33:42.130 --> 00:33:46.930 advantage of hindsight into the scripture. We 00:33:46.930 --> 00:33:49.109 go, Hannah's not ordinary. She's famous. Right. 00:33:50.309 --> 00:33:52.650 She was very ordinary when God tapped her on 00:33:52.650 --> 00:33:54.049 the shoulder and said, okay, it's going to be 00:33:54.049 --> 00:33:56.470 Samuel. And Samuel's going to anoint kings. And 00:33:56.470 --> 00:33:58.410 he's going to be the last judge. And he's going 00:33:58.410 --> 00:34:01.650 to do all these great things. It begins with 00:34:01.650 --> 00:34:04.170 ordinary people, hardships prepare for an extraordinary 00:34:04.170 --> 00:34:06.470 destiny. Hannah was ordinary, but her hope was 00:34:06.470 --> 00:34:08.869 extraordinary. It was real. It was rooted. It 00:34:08.869 --> 00:34:12.170 was all those things. And my friends, I would 00:34:12.170 --> 00:34:17.030 just say to those of you that are in the year 00:34:17.030 --> 00:34:21.510 after year season, you're praying, but you're 00:34:21.510 --> 00:34:23.769 not seeing. You're waiting, but you're not receiving. 00:34:23.909 --> 00:34:27.420 You're hoping, but you're feeling tired. Hannah's 00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:30.239 story speaks directly to you that God sees, that 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:33.480 God hears, and that God remembers. And I don't 00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:37.920 know what the outcome will be. I have question 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.539 marks on some longings in my heart, for sure, 00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:43.980 as do you. So this isn't me standing up here 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:48.119 saying, this for sure will be what happens. I 00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:50.900 don't know what will happen. Hannah didn't know 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:55.679 if God was going to give her a son. But her story 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:58.119 speaks directly to the fact that God sees and 00:34:58.119 --> 00:35:01.719 God hears and God remembers. The beautiful line 00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:05.059 in there is that God remembered her. God remembered 00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:08.619 her. The hope of Hannah is not just about getting 00:35:08.619 --> 00:35:10.739 what you asked for. It's also about becoming 00:35:10.739 --> 00:35:15.300 who God is shaping you to be. I mean, when I 00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:18.039 really want to be honest with myself, which is 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:20.960 like never, but when I really want to be honest 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:24.230 with myself, I have to pause and remember. How 00:35:24.230 --> 00:35:27.769 much different I am and how radically transformed 00:35:27.769 --> 00:35:31.369 I've been by some things that I didn't necessarily 00:35:31.369 --> 00:35:36.469 want or to experience. Or some longings that 00:35:36.469 --> 00:35:39.570 didn't go my way. Or some prayers that didn't 00:35:39.570 --> 00:35:41.909 get answered either the way I thought I wanted 00:35:41.909 --> 00:35:43.690 them answered or in the timing that I thought 00:35:43.690 --> 00:35:50.769 I wanted them answered. Hope is not about just 00:35:50.769 --> 00:35:53.659 getting what you want. Or what you ask for. But 00:35:53.659 --> 00:35:55.400 rather it's about becoming who God is shaping 00:35:55.400 --> 00:35:57.340 you to be. It's about trusting when you don't 00:35:57.340 --> 00:35:59.579 understand. It's about praying when you feel 00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:02.400 empty. And when others around you maybe are like. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:06.039 What's the big deal? It's about surrendering 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:08.980 when it feels costly. Because true hope is anchored. 00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:13.320 Not in outcomes. But rather in God. And that's 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:18.480 the. That is. Just. that just comes off the pages 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:21.320 of Hannah's story for us. It's not rooted in 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:25.159 outcomes. It's rooted and it's anchored in God. 00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:30.480 And your hope is in him. It will echo long after 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:35.940 your season of year after year has passed. May 00:36:35.940 --> 00:36:38.059 Hannah's hope become our hope if we need it today. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:40.980 Amen. Let's pray together. Father, thank you 00:36:40.980 --> 00:36:45.500 that you are, as we sang earlier, you are working. 00:36:46.460 --> 00:36:49.440 You are moving even when we don't see it, even 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:57.000 when we don't sense it. And Hannah's story is 00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:00.760 such a clear reminder. It's a beautiful reminder 00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:03.659 of what it looks like to have hope in seasons 00:37:03.659 --> 00:37:08.340 of longing. There's a lot of us in the room that 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:11.179 would say year after year, I get it. I get it 00:37:11.179 --> 00:37:16.179 too well. It has been year after year. of an 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:22.000 unfulfilled longing of the heart. They are as 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:24.880 varied as there are many of us in this room today. 00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:28.980 Whether that is for a child or whether that is 00:37:28.980 --> 00:37:32.719 for a relationship or whether that is for physical 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:36.139 healing or whether that is for a restored relationship 00:37:36.139 --> 00:37:40.480 with somebody or the longings of our soul are, 00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:48.030 they're real and they're numerous. And God, I 00:37:48.030 --> 00:37:52.650 pray, I pray first for each of us in the room 00:37:52.650 --> 00:37:56.590 that we would just be in a place of true vulnerability 00:37:56.590 --> 00:38:01.469 and surrender, God, that we would trust you with 00:38:01.469 --> 00:38:05.469 those longings. And we would, whether literally 00:38:05.469 --> 00:38:09.809 or more likely metaphorically, go to the temple 00:38:09.809 --> 00:38:13.769 every single day and pour out our heart before 00:38:13.769 --> 00:38:16.860 you, trusting that you see, you hear, You know 00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:20.619 you have not forsaken us in our place of longing. 00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:26.340 You have not abandoned us. Your delays are not 00:38:26.340 --> 00:38:29.699 your denials. Would you give us the language 00:38:29.699 --> 00:38:32.079 of hope, which is prayer and communion with you? 00:38:33.980 --> 00:38:39.159 Thank you for the untold number of stories in 00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:46.579 this room today that have ended with a yes. And 00:38:46.579 --> 00:38:48.940 then there are many that there's still a longing. 00:38:49.579 --> 00:38:53.719 There's still a deep desire. Thank you that you 00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:57.400 see, you hear, and you know. Give us faith to 00:38:57.400 --> 00:39:01.059 trust you. Give us an assurance that you are 00:39:01.059 --> 00:39:04.320 near and that you see and you hear and you understand. 00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:07.980 And that as we draw near to you, you draw near 00:39:07.980 --> 00:39:11.079 to us. And so we do that by faith now. We give 00:39:11.079 --> 00:39:14.559 our song back to you, God. You are a God of hope. 00:39:15.589 --> 00:39:18.170 Our hope is fixed and anchored in you. It's not 00:39:18.170 --> 00:39:20.369 in our circumstances. It's not in our outcomes. 00:39:21.170 --> 00:39:24.630 It is in you. You are worthy of our praise. You 00:39:24.630 --> 00:39:26.670 are worthy of our lives. We surrender them back 00:39:26.670 --> 00:39:29.409 to you by faith today. In Jesus' name we pray, 00:39:29.590 --> 00:39:30.210 amen.