God was going to make a man who would change his nation. Where did this man come from? He came from one of the most heartbroken women and from a very, very dysfunctional family. Let’s look at how his story began.
“On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb”(1 Samuel 1:4-6, ESV). This is a terrible, fractured situation.
Hannah didn’t give up on God or quit going to worship, though. She never said, “What’s the sense in worshipping? Look at me! I have no children. I have a terrible rival who mocks me for having no children in the middle of the worship services. What’s worse, she’s my husband’s other wife. I wish she’d just drop dead.”
Hannah got vexed and heartbroken, but she kept her eyes on the Lord, and God said, “That’s the woman I want to be the mother of my future prophet.”
When she had her son, Samuel, she dedicated him to God. She returned to that temple and told the priest, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:26-28).
Maybe that son or daughter or person you’re praying for is a complete mess. You’ve wept through the night over them. Right there is where God wants to show his power and do extraordinary things. Charles Spurgeon used to give an illustration in his sermons about a jeweler; when the jeweler brings out his best diamonds, he puts them on black velvet so the darkness will show the gem’s luster. That’s how God is.
Out of the worst situations, God does his best work.
Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.