Samuel

Samuel was born into a very transitional moment in the nation. Hearing from God was rare, and there was corruption among the priests. God had a plan to solve this through Samuel, but before we can talk about that, we need to talk about Samuel’s mom, Hannah.

Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. He had another wife, Peninnah, who was able to have children, but Hannah was not. Every year, they would go to the temple and sacrifice, and Hannah would pray, "God, give me a baby." Peninnah would have another baby, and Hannah would have none. The next year would roll around. She would go, she would pray, she would ask God, and she would sacrifice. "God, please give me a baby."

Put yourself in Hannah’s situation today. Her story represents all of those times we carry unanswered prayers, but we keep going to the house of God anyway.

"As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, [her rival] used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept…" She wept, but she went up anyway. God did not silence her enemy, but she went up anyway. God did not answer her prayer request, but she went up anyway. You can have all your fancy definitions of faith that you want, but I think sometimes real faith is just as simple as: go back and do it again.

God eventually gave Hannah what she asked for: a baby. She named him Samuel, which sounds like the Hebrew for “heard by God.” After a while, she had to take the baby back to the temple and dedicate him to the Lord, because that's what she vowed to do. And then every year, she would go to see Samuel, her boy whom she gave to God.

So, if you were to see Hannah going to the temple at this point in her life, you’d see a proud mother. But all those times you didn't see when Hannah went to the temple year after year with her rival in one ear and God in the other — that persistence led to his purpose. Samuel wasn’t just an answer to Hannah’s prayer. He became the answer to the entire nation's prayer for somebody to bring back the presence of God.

This boy who hears “Samuel, Samuel” in 1 Samuel 3 goes on to become the man who preaches God's Word to the entire nation. 1 Samuel 4:1 says that Samuel's word, in the fullness of time, came to all Israel. The entire nation heard his words. He spoke for God. He spoke of righteousness and repentance.

The people heard his words, and he heard God's words, because he had a mom who prayed, and God heard her words just like He hears yours.

Galatians 6:9 says: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” And that’s our prayer for you today. You might not be feeling good, but you’re doing good. Keep going back. Keep praising. God hears you.

This devotional is based on the sermon series CALLED. You can watch the full series on the Elevation Church YouTube channel.