In the process of being weaned

1 Samuel 1:1-28, 2:1-10

Many of us know the story of Hannah from the Old Testament. She labored and toiled over the fact that she couldn’t bare children; the Lord had “closed her womb” (v 6). Though her husband, Elkanah, did not blame her and loved her very much, he didn’t understand her. I guess that’s pretty typical of men, right ladies? Even Elkanah’s other wife (back when polygamy was cool), Peninniah, made fun of her and rubbed in the fact that she had her own children. That’s not nice. Verse 11 says Hannah then “vowed a vow” and this was her heartfelt prayer:

"O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

It wasn’t until Elkanah saw her break down in tears on her hands and knees and pray this prayer through muttering lips (v 7) that he understood her distress. At first, he thought she was drunk and accused her of not loving him as much as she should (v 8, v 12-14) but she explained to him the shame and trouble of her heart. He felt for her and blessed her for her honesty and fervent prayer (v 17).

The text says that they rose early the next morning and worshipped. After that, “Elkanah knew his wife” (which is to say they… well, you know) and “the Lord remembered her”. They conceived a son and when he was born she named him Samuel because she had “asked the Lord for him”. Not long after she weaned him, he was ready to be taken to the temple to be given over to the Lord and temple officiants.

Normally, a baby might be weaned off of breast-milk anywhere from six months to a year (assuming mothers weaned the same length of time as most mothers do now). If we can assume this, Hannah didn’t have her own child in her possession for very long. She simply wanted to experience the love of a child and the feeling of having her own son do the work of the Lord. So, she knew she wouldn’t be in charge of him long before she gave him over to the Lord’s service. Most importantly, in all of this Hannah made sure not only to deliver the promise she gave to God (to give her firstborn son over to the Lord) but she first praised God for His goodness and answering her plea. Hannah’s prayer, found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is a great example of a prayer of complete thankfulness, faith, and joy for God’s goodness and salvation

I can relate to Hannah’s situation. My soul has often toiled over my place in God’s will. My soul has been troubled over what He wants of me and how I can live my life as a servant like Samuel did. I've often replaced the words "son" in Hannah's prayers and pleas with the words "will" and "vocation". I was reluctant to accept God's call of church ministry on my life, but I've since prayed in like Hannah, "...forget your servant but give my your will, your vocation for my life, then I will give it to the LORD for all my life." I believe that I've accepted a particular call on my life and I'm in the weaning process. The space between the Lord's call and fulfilling the Lord's call is upon me now. I'm in the stage of God's call where I've vowed to give it over but am not ready to be taken to the temple.

I've been enjoying this last year where I've really been able to soak up a lot of worship experiences, practices, and lessons and it's all preparing me to take on God's call in my life. It's exciting. Much like Hannah (I'm sure) cherished every moment of time with her son before she brought him to the temple, I am cherishing every moment of blessing before I "move on" to the next thing in life. On the other hand, than there's all the waiting involved...

I am in still being weaned in preparation for greater things.