Lessons from Hannah

Yesterday at Mosaic, we gleaned some "life lessons" from a mother in the book of 1 Samuel named Hannah... but we didn't target mothers only. Instead, we tailor-made the message for everybody.

The two main points we lifted from chapter one was that 1) Hannah leaned on God during difficult times. She had to deal with the social stigma of being unable to conceive (a major issue in those days), as well as with a "crazymaker" (her husband's other wife) who was making her life miserable. We all have difficult people in our lives, and we all have difficult situations that arise... the question is how are we handling them? Do we always vent to other people, or await patiently on God for victory?

The second thing we looked at is that 2) Hannah lived open-handedly before God. What she longed for and dreamed of most (a son)... she was able to open her hand and turn it over to God. Ironically, what we love the most, we often hold onto the tightest... and have NO DESIRE to let it go... whether it be possessions, property, or people... or a career, a dream, a new direction in life. And when we take that stance, then this thing becomse AN IDOL... because we hold it in higher value than we do God Himself. But we fail to realize that God wants to take our dreams (if they're legit, he gave them to us anyway) and make them more than we ever could imagine. Hannah wanted a son... God gave a servant. Hannah wanted posterity for Elkanah... God gave a prophet for His people. I'm sure she never imagined what her dream would look like in God's hand instead of hers...

Because of how she lived, Hannah left a poweful legacy. How are we living, in order for people to remember us after we've gone off the scene?

What will our life's definition be?