Imagine your child denying you a request for a portion of food (like a biscuit) that you just bought for him or her? Parents repeatedly laugh over such an early demonstration of selfishness and ungratefulness on the part of children, hence they miss its object lessons. According to Ellen White, Enoch “after the birth of his first son,…reached a higher experience; he was drawn into a closer relationship with God” ( Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 84).
Thus, the child’s love for him and his simple trust in his protection broadened Enoch’s knowledge of God’s love for humanity and the trust which men and women should in turn repose in Him. Likewise, the scenario above may remind us of our continuous selfishness and ungratefulness to Him, our sole Benefactor.
Hannah promised to give her all
After all her effort for a child failed, coupled with the heartless ridicule by her rival (Peninnah), Hannah now decided to involve God in her matter. The sheer sorrow over her inability to conceive, even the continuous exemption of herself from the family feast at Shiloh, had barely yielded her any positive result. Finally she resolved to commit her case entirely to God, with a promise to return to Him the answer to her prayer (see 1 Sam 1:9-11).
Hannah gave all
God answered Hannah’s prayer, and she also dedicated her son (Samuel) to God as promised. We should know that in giving Samuel, Hannah didn’t just give; rather, she gave her all (i.e. her most valued possession). Since God requires us to always give our “choicest possessions,… best and holiest service” (Ellen White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 18), as did Hannah, a true knowledge of her secret in giving will inform us of how to do likewise.
Hannah’s secret in giving all
Hannah’s giving spirit could be linked to the value she placed on what God did for her. This she couldn’t have done without an adequate knowledge of her condition. Her fate as a barren woman was probably her greatest misfortune. A cultural setting where barrenness was considered to be an act (sometimes punishment) of God (see Gen 29:31; 25:21,2 Sam 6:16-23) and vice versa (Gen 30:12,13,22-23) is that which makes the reader appreciate her desperation. In those days, the state of a woman’s fertility was a major condition for her husband’s love for her (Gen 29:32; 30:20). Some women even preferred death to being childless (Gen 30:1).
The decision by her husband Elkanah take Peninnah to wife instead of sharing Hannah’s fate, summed up Hannah’s bitter life. Thus the level of depression and hopelessness from which God’s provision had rescued her was enormous. She thus saw it a little thing, comparatively, to give the Giver back His own (see 1 Chron 29:14).
Object lesson
Often we literally place our lives as surety for God’s answer to our prayers. Unfortunately, we too often forget to even give a verbal thanks to God when our prayers (marriages, jobs, healing etc.) are answered. Other subjects soon occupy our minds and an appreciation to God becomes less important to us (see Luke 17:17,18). The sacrifice involved in fulfilling our vows now becomes more demanding to us than we thought of. Worse still, we sometimes deny God as the true Source of the miracles in our life and relate them to natural occurrences, just to avoid fulfilling our attached promises. When in fact we do something to show our appreciation, we often do so sparingly and grudgingly.
But Hannah’s example teaches us that our willingness to thank God for His provisions in our lives is directly linked to the value we placed on those provisions (see Psalm 100). On top of that, our estimate of God's bounties are also bound to our proper understanding of our previous condition (see Psalm 107). May we henceforth learn to remember God’s intervention throughout our past, so that we can place the necessary value on God’s blessings in our lives and give our all in return (see 1 Chron. 29:13-16, Deut 8:11-18).
Francis Owusu-Bahanene currently serves as youth director of the South Ridge Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sunyani, Brong Ahafo, Ghana. He is a businessman and entrepreneur, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Integrated Business Studies from the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana.