Mothers

Mother’s Day is celebrated every year in the United States of America. It’s a day to remember the good times with your mother or make new memories. It’s a day a mother shares with her children, feeling blessed that the Lord gave them to her. One woman in the Old Testament, however, had never had the blessing of being a mother. As her story begins, Hannah suffers the verbal abuse of her husband’s second wife, who is a mother several times over. Though Hannah has prayed often about her infertility, motherhood has not become a reality. Have you had friends who share their excitement over being pregnant, totally forgetting how long you have prayed to be so? Sure, you are thrilled for them, but your own pain is deep.

You might have wondered: Does God hear others’ prayers but not mine? During the family’s visit to the tabernacle, Hannah pleads her case to God one more time. She is so focused on her plea that she is oblivious to anyone else being there.

Eli, the priest, totally misjudges her demonstration of anguish, thinking it coming from a drunk person. Poor Hannah! She explains her situation.

Eli is man enough to admit he made a wrong assumption and blesses her. God answers with a yes this time. In deep appreciation for her baby boy, Samuel —the son who has made her a mother— Hannah keeps her vow to God.

She gives the child to the Lord to serve in the tabernacle.

Her separation anxiety has to be strong.

Yet she keeps her vow to God, trusting He will be with Samuel. We mothers try to protect our children from wrong influences.

I remember how hard we looked for a house in a nice, safe neighborhood when our boys were young. We monitored who their friends were when they were young. But Samuel lived in the tabernacle with a priest who didn’t discipline his own sons. Hannah’s fervent prayers, however, protected her son from the evil practices around him. Likewise, we must trust God and put our children in His capable hands.

And Hannah’s eldest son, Samuel, became one of the greatest judges Israel ever had. The rest of this mother’s story finds Hannah being blessed with more children, and she faithfully visits Samuel each year at the tabernacle.

Through one mother’s faith and faithfulness, God both works a miracle in her life and blesses, through her son, an entire nation.

Louise Driver