…the LORD had closed her womb… 1 Samuel 1:6
We sometimes wonder, deep down, if God knows what He’s doing. Read 1 Samuel chapter 1. A woman experiences the pain of being childless, and God stands up and takes full responsibility for it. If that wasn’t enough, as a direct result, a rival gloats and provokes (verse 7), a husband doesn’t understand (verse 8), she feels deep hurt (verse 10), she is falsely judged (verses 13-14), and she experiences great anguish (verse 16).
This part of the story had to be written first. Without Hannah’s pain—so arbitrary and meaningless all by itself—there would be no great prophet Samuel.
It seems to me that so much of human experience is just this—the first chapter of the story. We don’t have answers to our questions because the answers don’t come in chapter one.
The same Author who brought Samuel to Israel, who made Joseph ruler of Egypt, who emptied the tomb—that same Author is writing your story and mine.
Dwight
PS. All of us sometimes fail. How do you bounce back? That will be our Inner Wealth topic on Saturday, 9/7/2019.
