Today, as I sat down with my Bible and a cup of coffee, I was drawn to 1 Samuel 1-2, the story of Hannah and the birth of Samuel. For those who haven't read the story in a while, or those who never have, the basic synopsis is this: Hannah was barren, and poured her heart out to the Lord in anguish, begging Him for a son. She vowed that if the Lord blessed her with a son, she would offer the son back to him and take the son to be a priest in the temple under Eli. The Lord was faithful to Hannah, and she did exactly what she promised she would do - after she weaned Samuel (the son) she took him to the temple at Shiloh and placed him under Eli's care for the rest of his life.
Wow. Talk about faith! Talk about a woman who knew that everything she was and everything she was given belonged to the Lord! In a society as materialistic and success-driven as our own, it is incredibly easy to forget that we have been blessed and GIVEN the things we have. Yes, we work hard and make money and earn titles/jobs/resources, but ultimately it is God who allows us to work, to earn, to strive and to be successful. In Acts chapter 17, Paul writes, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"
When I read Hannah's story, I was forced to see just how open-handed she was. She didn't guard Samuel and hold onto him as if he were her own - she raised him up and offered him BACK to the Lord. Hannah recognized that Samuel was a gift, a sign of God's faithfulness to her, and she recognized that Samuel was HIS. In a perfect world, socialism would work. The people of God would live as the people of the New Testament did: sharing everything and holding nothing back. However, our world is not perfect. We are a fallen people who struggle daily with greed, materialism, and selfishness. We have a hard time realizing that no matter how hard we work, the things we earn are ultimately from God! God determines where we start and where we end. He blessed us with the freedom to make choices and take whichever path we choose, but He is our ultimate source of life. He blesses us with resources and circumstances! I often forget that the things I've been given are not SOLELY for my enjoyment - I am supposed to use the circumstances and resources that God has given me to BRING HIM GLORY. Yesterday, a friend tweeted, "If your answer to 'What is the meaning of life?' isn't 'God's glorification', then you're doing it wrong." Our lives, our circumstances (good or bad), our resources (many or few) are given to us as tools to bring God glory. Should we enjoy the gifts God has given us? Yes! Ultimately, though, we have to keep our minds set on His glory. We need to keep an eternal perspective! This life is not what we were designed for. This world is not our home! The things we are given now will pass away and fade just as quickly as they came. The things we DO with these things we're given, however...those acts are eternal. The lives we save by giving to those less fortunate than ourselves, the souls won to Christ by church-supported missionaries, and the hearts touched by our willingness to give generously will last. Our time, our money, our material possessions, even our COMFORT are things we can sacrifice to bring God glory. Those things are resources and gifts that God has given us to USE, not just enjoy. They're what I like to call "utility gifts". A beautiful necklace or a sweet love letter are gifts given from the heart for us to enjoy, but they don't serve much purpose. A new pressure washer, though, that thing gets stuff done! We should see the things God gives us not as sweet presents for us to admire and stare at, but as utility gifts we can use to accomplish His Kingdom purposes! Does this mean that you can't help accomplish God's purposes without financial or material resources? No! I believe that even what we see as "negative" circumstances or times of doubt, grief, pain, and loss are "utility gifts". Times of grief and struggle are often the times that God grows us and changes us the most. He enables us to be more vulnerable and more desperate for Him in those times than in any others. Our desperation, our seeking, our desire for Him can touch lives! We can grow in the knowledge of him so that we will be better, more capable tools for his kingdom! Our faithfulness to God during hard times is a testament in and of itself, and people notice. We can (and should) use both good times AND bad to bring glory to His name.
Praise God for his goodness to his people!
