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Trust and Obey
If you only had five years with your child, what would you teach him?
Consider Hannah.
She married. But in a culture where her worth was measured in bearing children, she had no children, no worth.
She was tormented by her husband’s second wife, (not a recommendation for marital bliss), especially after the second wife had sons and daughters.
Hannah, in her grief and desperation, promised the Lord if He gave her a son, she would give him back to God all the days of his life.
God granted her request.
She had five years to teach her son what was important.
What did she teach him?
She taught him to listen to God, expect Him to answer, and do what He told him.
Trust and obey.
Did he learn his lesson?
God called.
Samuel responded, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
Samuel is the only child recorded in the Bible that God spoke to. 1 Samuel 3:1-21.
God told Samuel of the coming judgement to Eli and his disobedient sons. What a heavy message for a young boy to bare!
How was he prepared?
His mother taught him to trust God.
How?
Hannah knew trust. She told God her needs. She held onto God when God seemed not to hear.
He did hear and granted her request.
And Hannah did what she had promised God. She gave back to God her only son. Was it easy?
Have you ever given your son to God to do whatever He wants? That is hard trust.
Hannah's promise was no different.
The priests, Eli’s sons, were wicked. But Hannah trusted God to protect Samuel from their evil, even while living with them, away from her protection.
That is trust wrought in the crucible of pain and separation!
God honored her trust and protected her son.
“Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of His words fail.” I Samuel 3:19
What did Hannah teach Samuel?
Trust and obey.
Seems so simple.
It is.
But so hard.
Because trust isn’t taught, it’s caught.
You can’t tell them to trust. You show them, first by your own words, that are true and trustworthy.
Then they will believe you when you tell them God is worthy to be trusted.
But we can't trust for them. That's the hard part for us.
You can’t tell them to obey, you must make them obey. That's an outward action of an inward submission. We can only make them obey outwardly. They must allow God to change their hearts.
And when they are of age, we can't even make them obey. They choose.
You show by your heart's desire, that God is worthy of your trust.
You can’t just tell them to rely on God, they must know it for themselves.
What must we do as mothers with little children?
Teach them to trust and obey.
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I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
Sonya Contreras