Continual Surrender: 1 Samuel Devotional
All of us have deep desires that we constantly bring before the Lord and ask Him to grant. Whether a job, a relationship, wealth, a better situation, or a family, we all can think of at least one deep desire that our hearts constantly cry out for as we walk the paths of our daily lives. Yet, as we entreat the Lord to hear our prayers and constantly bear this longing, do we ever stop to consider what we would do once given this gift?
Long ago, a woman named Hannah also had a deep desire: the desire for a child. As she longed for God to bless her and her husband with this gift, she not only had to wait patiently “year after year,” but she also had to endure watching her husband’s other wife receive the blessing she so desperately desired (1 Sam. 1:7). And, as if the pain of an unfulfilled desire was not difficult enough, she also had to endure the cruel taunting of this other woman. Though her husband loved her greatly, and though Hannah had many other blessings, she still grieved because of the absence of a child in her life, suffering in the wait (1 Sam. 1:5-8).
However, rather than becoming bitter towards God, her husband, and her rival because of the continued withholding of the gift of a child, Hannah brought her request before the Lord in faith. “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head’” (1 Sam. 1:10-11). In this, Hannah recognized her dependence on the Lord, as well as the truth that all gifts come from Him, to be offered back to Him. “Pouring out...[her]...soul before the Lord” in faith, Hannah surrendered her desire to the Lord (1 Sam. 1:15). “And the Lord remembered her” and blessed Hannah with the son she had waited and longed and prayed for so long (1 Sam. 1:19).
Many of us might be tempted to view this as the end of the story, for, if we have read this story before, we know that Hannah did bring Samuel to the Temple, where he grew up to be a prophet and the one to anoint both Saul and David as King over Israel. However, we should not only learn from Hannah’s prayer of faith before the Lord blessed her with Samuel, but we should also learn from her actions of faith after receiving the blessing.
“And she [Hannah] said, ‘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).
When the Lord blessed Hannah with her request, she willingly offered her son back to the Lord, knowing she would never be able to be his mother and would not be able to watch him grow. She would never see his first steps, never watch him learn about his world, and never create memories with him. She did not even know for certain that she would ever be blessed with another child. Yet, Hannah gave thanks to God and willingly gave Him everything He had given her. Though given the gift she had so long desired, and for which she had poured out her soul before the Lord, she ultimately recognized that such a gift was not hers to keep, and so she surrendered it with a willing heart.
But I wonder: was it not more difficult for Hannah to surrender her son after she had been given him than before? Before she had Samuel, she could only imagine and dream of what the role of a mother would entail. After she had Samuel, she knew the joy of such a gift from direct experience. Yet, she still faithfully obeyed her promise to the Lord and surrendered her gift back to Him. This demonstrates Hannah’s heart posture before the Lord, as she recognized His power, sovereignty, authority, and character worthy of reverence and worship.
So why is the story of Hannah even included in Scripture? Why did the Lord not inspire the author of the book of 1 Samuel to simply begin with Samuel hearing the call of the Lord, or with the anointing of Saul as King over Israel? We cannot know the answer for certain, of course, but it is worth considering. Perhaps, the Lord wanted to remind us about the nature of surrender. Just as Hannah first surrendered her desire for a son to the Lord in faith, after praying and weeping and waiting so long, so also the Lord calls us to surrender our deepest desires to Him as we pray and weep and wait. Whether it be a job, a relationship, or a dream, we can confidently bring it before the Lord and ask that He hear us. And sometimes, as in Hannah’s story, the answer will be yes, and we will praise the Lord.
But what do we do with the gift after the yes? Often, we operate under the delusion that it is ours to keep, but this is not so. As the story of Hannah demonstrates, the Lord gives us gifts so that we may offer them back to Him for His glory and purposes. Nothing we have been given is our own, and true surrender not only involves entrusting our desires to the Lord’s will but also entrusting our gifts to His will. When Hannah prayed for a child, she did not know that the Lord would answer with a yes. When she willingly offered her son to the Lord’s service, she did not know that the Lord would later bless her with other children (1 Sam. 2:21). Yet, she still chose to remain faithful to the Lord and to place Him above all else in her life, whatever He chose to do.
So, as the Lord calls us to surrender our desires to Him, let us come in faith, trusting that whatever His answer may be, whether yes or no, He is good and blesses us according to His good and perfect plans. And, when He does bless us with gifts, whether they are gifts based upon a yes or a no, let us offer even those back to the Lord to be used for His glory, for surrender is a continual heart posture.