Bring Your Sadness to the Lord

This past Sunday Chris Powell, executive pastor at North Shore Fellowship, preached from 1 Samuel 1:3-11. In unpacking this passage Pastor Chris shared insights that I think can be helpful for our mentees and for us. I was encouraged by these things and I hope you will be also.

Take a few moments and read 1 Samuel 1:3-11, then jump down and see verses 19 – 20.

Here’s the basic outline of the story. Hannah, wife of Elkanah couldn’t have children. Hannah was heartbroken over her infertility. In her sorrow she wept and was unable to eat. Elkanah had another wife, Peninnah, who was prolific in producing children. She had sons and daughters. Peninnah was unkind to Hannah. She “provoked” Hannah and added to her sorrow.

This went on for some time, “year by year” (1:3). Hannah, deeply distressed, wept bitterly and prayed (1:10). Then the day came when the Lord “remembered her. And, in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel…” (1:19b-20).

In verse 5 see that the reason for Hannah’s infertility was not a biological accident. It was the Lord who “closed her womb.” If something good has been withheld from us we can trust that the Lord is in it and that he must have a good reason for it.

Next note that in her sadness Hannah turned toward the Lord, not away from him. Timothy Keller makes this point about Job in his book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. What made Job a great man, according to Keller, is that in his suffering he never turned away from God, only toward him. Hannah does the same thing. In her sadness she turns toward God.

She does not pretend that she isn’t sad. God does not expect of us to “fake it until we make it.” He does not want us to pretend that we are not sad when our hearts are broken. But what he does want is for us bring our sadness to him. And that’s what Hannah does.

In verse 11 we read Hannah’s prayer. It is rich in practical and theological insight. She addressed God as the “Lord of hosts.” That is the first time in the Bible that that title is used of God and it shows that Hannah had faith that God commanded the armies of heaven and nothing was too difficult for him.

Hannah asks God “to look on the affliction of your servant.” She brings her sadness to God. And she affirms her status as a servant of God. In other words, while asking God to take note of her sorrow she also says that she is willing to submit to God’s rule in her life.

Then she asks God to “remember her,” to not “forget her,” and to act on her behalf. She asks him “to give to your servant a son.” God invites us when we are afflicted to come to him and tell him what it is that we want.

Hannah also promises that if God will give her what she wants, if he will give her a son, that she will dedicate her son “to the Lord all the days of his life.”

Pastor Chris said, “Hannah trusts her sadness to God. She asks for what she wants. And, when she gets it, she entrusts it to the Lord.”

Are you sad or afflicted? Trust your sadness or affliction to God. Tell him what you want. Then be prepared to give it back, to use it to serve the Lord.

The virus has made it inside Walker. The number of confirmed cases is up from a week ago. Our mentees are locked down tightly in their dorms. Many are stressed and fearful. They are afflicted. Let us pray for them that they will turn toward the Lord in their sadness and fear.

Write to your mentee and encourage him to be like Job, to be like Hannah. Encourage him to turn toward the Lord, not away from him. Remind your mentee that he can call out to the “Lord of hosts to look on the affliction of his servant, to not forget him, to remember his servant.” He can tell God what it is he wants.

Does your mentee want protection from the virus or recovery if he has it? Does he want to not be afraid? Does he want his family to be safe and cared for? Does he want visitation and mentor meetings to resume? God invites him to bring his requests to the Lord.

And, finally, encourage your mentee that when the Lord does remember and when the Lord graciously gives whatever it is that he asks for, then to be prepared to give it back to the Lord, to use it to further serve and glorify him .

Much love,

Barry