All Lives Have a Purpose

“Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou has asked of Him.  And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight.  So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.”  I Samuel 1:17-18

There was a couple in ancient Israel, Elkanah and his wife, Hannah.  Elhanah also had a wife named Penninah who had given him sons and daughters, but Hannah had not been able to conceive.  Penninah was rather mean to Hannah.  She harassed her and ridiculed her because Hannah couldn’t have children, at least, not at that time.  Scripture tells us the Elkanah gave more expensive gifts to Hannah because he loved her, which tells me that Penninah was jealous.  She had something, children, that Hannah had not been able to have, yet she was jealous.  This reminds me of certain folks who whine about everything while they live in their mac-mansions, drive their luxury automobiles, and have servants to see to their every need.  This makes us wonder if something is not missing in their lives–like a relationship with Jesus Christ, maybe?

Elkanah and his family went to the house of God to sacrifice as was their usual custom and requirement to be obedient to the law.  Penninah would use this time to rub it in a little further about Hannah’s barrenness.  One would think that Elkanah would put a stop to it, but he apparently didn’t.  After the family had eaten (although Hannah did not eat because of her sorrow), she went to the area where prayers were offered and begin to make a vow to the LORD.  If He would allow her to conceive a baby boy, she would give him to serve the LORD.  I am sure that she was grateful for her husband, but in those days to be barren was seen as a curse.  A woman back then did not feel complete unless she had children.

Eli was the priest at that time, and he followed Hannah into the prayer room.  She likely knelt down to pray and begin calling out from her heart except that she was not making any sound as her lips moved.  Eli thought she was drunk.  He began to criticize her.  (Women think they have it bad now, but whatever victimhood they feel, it was nothing like the women of ancient Israel experienced).  She explained to him that she had not been drinking, but was in a state of consuming grief.  She wasn’t praying to Eli.  She was praying to the LORD, and she didn’t have to speak audibly for Him to do so.  He hears the anguish of the heart.  Eli realized how sorrowful and intense she was about her petition that he told her to go in peace and that God would grant her what she had asked of Him.

These words from Eli brought her a peace that she had not known before.  Previously, she had continually felt sorry for herself and likely stayed in a state of constant despair particularly with her husband’s other wife making her life even more miserable, but the words of Eli gave her such hope and turned her focus on the LORD rather that her own situation, she came away from that prayer room with an eternal perspective.  Her faith was strengthened, and Hannah had a new outlook on life.  She ate, probably the best meal she had in a long time, and was saddened no more.  She did later have a son, just as Eli foretold, named him Samuel, and he became a great servant of God, eventually seeking out David as the future king over Israel.

There are many women today who are unable to conceive a baby, yet they desire with all their hearts to have children.  My mother lost the only baby that she was able to conceive, and later I was adopted by her and my dad when I was four months old.  My how times have changed.  There are many women who are able to conceive, yet they terminate their pregnancies for various reasons, mostly for selfish reasons.  Because of the availability of abortion, there are fewer babies to adopt.  Some couples are deciding not to have children, again for various reasons, one of which is that they do not desire to bring up a child in this world of chaos.  I can somewhat understand that, but I think that some of them will come to regret their decision.  I believe that God has a purpose for every person.  Could it be that the man or woman who perhaps would find a cure for cancer has been or will be aborted and never be able to fulfill their purpose?  What is needed in our land today is for God’s people to live with an eternal perspective, that God is in control, and His purpose will be fulfilled through His created beings, whether they are men and women who seek to do His will or through people who don’t even realize that they are part of God’s plan.  God can use any and all people and any and all situations to fulfill His purposes.  The lives of all matter to God, and they should matter to us.