Category: Seasons of Life

Re: Verse reading–Ruth 1-4 (day three)
“And they named him Obed.  He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”  If you reckon that a matter will end the way it began, you will be far more than disappointed; you will be correct.  You will stop working for what could be if you’ve already resigned yourself to the way things are.  When you begin to understand that the universe doesn’t run on a clock but instead on a mind, you will seek to think God’s thoughts after him.  It is arrogance that says things can only proceed the way they first appear.  It is hope that says with God, all things are possible.

Re: Verse reading–Ruth 1:1-19a (day two)
There are many unique characters in the Bible. Murderers turned into leaders. Prostitutes turned into followers. The portrait of many Bible characters is not very flattering, and you’ll find children’s Bibles selectively retelling their stories. Occasionally, you come across people whom you’d actually like for your children to imitate. Ruth and Boaz are two of them. Ruth is unflinchingly dedicated and ready to trust God. She works hard and respects authority. She is articulate and brave in the presence of foreigners and earns a good reputation. Who wouldn’t want their daughter to be like her? Boaz is a good manager and a generous man. He shows kindness to the needy and respect for his ancestors. He refuses to circumvent the law and is willing to redeem even a foreign woman in need of his care. Most contrary to American norms, he is attracted to Ruth because she is a “woman of noble character” (3:11). Who wouldn’t want their son to be like him?

Re: Verse reading–Ruth 1:1-19a (day one)
When Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, (Matthew 5:3)  He pointed to an essential moment in spiritual life.  The moment when we realize how impoverished we are in spiritual insight and power.  “I once was blind” was John Newton’s description.  How else can we come to the grace of God until we realize our desperate need?  It was happening in Ruth’s heart when she verbalized her famous words to Naomi.  Naomi had been the truest friend she had ever had.  Naomi’s God was a huge factor in Ruth’s hunger to hang on.  Imagine if people said the same to us!  “Do not press me to leave you or turn back from following you.  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (v 16)  Desperate for God is good.  Leaves us hungry and hanging on, searching for more.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day seven)
“This man used to go up year by year . . .to worship. . .the Lord of hosts at Shiloh.”  (v 3)  It is the first time we ever see it in Scripture.  God’s name.  Lord of hosts.  It means “God of ARMIES of angels” and (after this reference) appears in the Bible over 300 times. How did Elkanah and/or Hannah retain such a clear vision of God’s power in a day as spiritually defeated as theirs?  Does life ever get you down?  Do you allow daily disappointments to cloud your confidence that God has enormous power at His disposal?  Even facing barrenness, this couple never lost perspective on God’s character and strength.  “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” said Jesus on the night of His arrest. (Matthew 26: 53)  We will not fear.  We worship the Lord of hosts.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day six)
“Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.”  (v 18)  It is a strange power that prayer has.  “A peace that passes understanding” is the way the Bible describes it.  Nothing has changed for Hannah.  Not materially.  She is still barren.  Still trapped in a dysfunctional family.  But her countenance reveals a deep inner transformation.  Her face is no longer sad because her heart is no longer defeated.  People who pray report this positive result.  The problems remain but somehow we are different!  “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. . .while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  (2 Corinthians 4:16, 18)

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day five)
“Hannah had no children” (v 2)  “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord.” (v 10)  Her journey is not unlike our own.  Eventually we all discover, as Hannah did, that this world is incapable of meeting our deepest needs, fulfilling our highest hopes.  It is a hostile place.  And empty.  Sometimes we experience this brokenness in marriage.  Sometimes in parenthood or infertility or singleness or career loss,  but eventually everyone discovers the same truth.  And God can use a broken heart.  Only as our hearts break free from our dependence on/addiction to the things of this world do we  discover the power and peace to be found in “unseen things”.  Hannah may have prayed before this night but she never prayed with equal power.  Heart break?  Yes.  Break through?  Yes again.  Hannah’s experience is something that God desires to teach us all.  A broken heart may be the beginning of a new life.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day four)
When Hannah was in distress, she brought her needs to the Lord in prayer.  Hannah’s prayer was that God would remember her.  Had God forgotten her?  Or was Hannah a part of a larger plan that God had for the nation of Israel?  To believe that God is sovereign is to believe that He has a plan for the circumstances of our life…that He will receive glory through them.  Hannah responded to her distress by praying and accepting God’s plan by faith.  Even before Hannah prayed, God had already answered her prayer.  Not only would she have a son, but God would have a faithful prophet and servant in Samuel.  ‘Samuel’ means ‘Asked of the Lord’…Hannah asked according to God’s plan.  Her faith rose from God’s plan in her life.  We too can pray in faith.  To pray in faith is the result of a relationship with God that precedes the desires of our heart.

RE Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day three)
“I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life.” Reading this story through present-dayeyes will invite us to interpret Hannah’s grief through our current sensibilities: Babies give us the status of mommy-hood and daddy-hood that we highly value; babies give us an opportunity to breathe into them our own sense of how the world ought to be; the way we raise babies establishes our “brand identity” among our peer group. Such values, though, are part of a shift in modern thinking about families in our society—a shift that sees children as a statement we make to the world about ourselves.  We would do well to learn from Hannah: She desired that her son live as the Lord’s statement to the world about the Lord himself.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day two)
“Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears…” (1 Samuel 1:10). What prayer surfaces the deep longing in your soul? It’s a faithful prayer that believes one is being heard by One who is powerful enough to respond. It’s a hopeful prayer that trusts that the One who hears is good and will respond favorably. It’s a desperate prayer from one who has realized that there is no other One to whom the request can be brought. Prayer that surfaces the longing of the soul results in rest well before the answer is realized (1 Samuel 1:18). Haven’t experienced this? Perhaps your soul longs for too small a thing? Try longing for spiritual birth in someone you love, and you’ll find that faithful, hopeful and desperate prayer is the only way forward. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day one)
“No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.”  (v 15)  The Bible often compares spiritual life to being drunk.  “Do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:”But others were saying, ‘They are full of sweet wine’ ” (Acts 2:13–at Pentecost)  Even Hannah is accused.  Perhaps it is because drunkenness and spiritual life both displace or short-circuit the ego.  In one case, we “lose control” to a negative influence. (alchohol).  In the other, we “surrender control and choice” to a higher/better mind.  (Spirit)  In both cases, someone or something else takes over. One thing is clear, so long as my ego is in charge, the Lord cannot be.  Something has to break my heart so that my soul pours out, my defenses leave and the Lord comes in to reign.