We had a good FHE last night. My family listened to a CD about personal revelation and we talked about setting goals and looking for direction. As parents, my husband and I had the opportunity to bear our testimonies on keeping the Lord in your life, seeking His guidance, and the happiness that comes from these things. We talked about areas of personal revelation that we need to work on like being still, listening better, and ridding ourselves of inner noise. The Spirit was there, you could feel it, and it was good to know that we were being guided as we went along. How grateful I am for moments like this when my entire family can feel the Spirit together. It brings us closer together on a much higher level.
My prayer is that we will keep that feeling in our hearts as we go throughout our day today. May we recognize the Spirit in our lives, listen to His voice, and have the courage to do what He is leading us to do!
1 Samuel 1
There has been a lot of focus recently on the stock market. If you watch the news, it doesn’t take the commentators long to tell you either how well or how poor the market is doing. In fact, there are trillions of dollars, much more than we can comprehend, invested in the stock market. The people who place their money there do so with the hope and intention that the stocks in their portfolios will do well and that they will make a profit. But, of course, it doesn’t always turn out that way! Sometimes the stocks don’t do well and the investor loses some or all of his money.
Even if you don't have money in the stock market, you are still an active investor in many areas of your life. Every action, every attitude, every activity is an investment in something and it will reap either positive or negative returns. Now, in the stock market, a wise investor will study stocks before he invests in them so that he can maximize the return potential on the money he invests. Those who would make a wise investment of their lives do the same. People who are wise investors of life examine all the various areas of their lives so they can be sure they will receive the greatest dividend from their investment.
In 1 Samuel 1 we are introduced to a woman by the name of Hannah. She is presented as a woman who was a shrewd investor of her life. She made some very wise investments that continue to reap dividends down to this very day. What investments did Hannah make? Let's take a look:
Family
Hannah invested her life in her family in spite of the fact that circumstances weren’t as pleasant as they should have been in her home. Yet, she persevered to make her investment in the family she loved.
She Invested In Spite Of Difficulty - v. 1-2 - Right off the bat we learn that Hannah was married to a man with two wives. I don't know about you, but to me this is a recipe for disaster! Yet, Hannah was not looking for the exit! She stayed in the family and she worked to make the best of a bad situation!
God never said the family would be an easy place to live! Families are great and they are wonderful, but every one of them is filled with people and therein lies the potential for trouble. There will be disagreements and there will be trouble, but the secret lies in not running away! We have to learn to make an investment in our families regardless of the difficulties we face in life! It’s gotten too easy to walk away in our society. People need to learn the truth, that marriage and family is a lifetime investment!
She Invested In Spite Of Discouragement - v. 5-6 - Her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, had children, but Hannah was barren. Peninnah used Hannah’s barrenness as a means of ridicule. She mocked Hannah and made her life miserable. Verse 5 tells us that Elkanah loved Hannah. Apparently she was his favorite and it showed. Peninnah, however, could give Elkanah something that Hannah could not, namely children, and she used this as leverage in the household to mock Hannah. All of this criticism and belittling made life practically impossible for Hannah, yet she continued to invest in the family. What a testimony!
Family is like that sometimes! Discouragement crops up from time to time in the home. Husbands, wives and children all feel that they are unappreciated, taken for granted and the target of constant criticism. Sometimes people get discouraged at their fellow family members and what they say and do, but discouragement is no reason to close the door on the family. Instead, you continue to invest your life in the people you love, knowing that in due course, you will reap the ultimate dividend, eternal life together!
She Invested In Spite Of Desperation - v. 5-6 - Both of these verses tell us that Hannah was barren because God had chosen this lot for her! She was in a situation that was of the Lord’s doing and nothing she could do would ever change it! What Hannah did not know was that God‘s plans for her life were good plans. His plan wasn’t to hurt her, his plan was to amaze her in His time!
God's plans for us are always for our good. (Jer 29:11; Rom 8:28). It may not seem like it at the time we are going through the challenges, but when we look back on our lives we will recognize God's hand in our lives and hopefully start to understand the why of certain events.
There will be times in your family when it may appear that the investments you are making in them are not paying off at the present time. It may look like your spouse and your children are not all you planned, prayed and hoped they would be, if that is the case, Hannah's story should encourage us to keep investing! Your family is too important for you to stop investing yourself in them now. It may seem like you do all the giving and receive none of the getting, but for those who make wise investments in their families, their dividends come at unexpected times and in marvelous ways!
Take some time today to evaluate how and what you are investing in your family. Do you need to shuffle some of your resources to receive better dividends? Are there some weak investments that need to have a little more attention paid to them? Whatever your particular situation is know that you can always seek the Lord's help as you try to improve your portfolio! It is His plan after all, who better to seek advice from!
Family is like that sometimes! Discouragement crops up from time to time in the home. Husbands, wives and children all feel that they are unappreciated, taken for granted and the target of constant criticism. Sometimes people get discouraged at their fellow family members and what they say and do, but discouragement is no reason to close the door on the family. Instead, you continue to invest your life in the people you love, knowing that in due course, you will reap the ultimate dividend, eternal life together!
She Invested In Spite Of Desperation - v. 5-6 - Both of these verses tell us that Hannah was barren because God had chosen this lot for her! She was in a situation that was of the Lord’s doing and nothing she could do would ever change it! What Hannah did not know was that God‘s plans for her life were good plans. His plan wasn’t to hurt her, his plan was to amaze her in His time!
God's plans for us are always for our good. (Jer 29:11; Rom 8:28). It may not seem like it at the time we are going through the challenges, but when we look back on our lives we will recognize God's hand in our lives and hopefully start to understand the why of certain events.
There will be times in your family when it may appear that the investments you are making in them are not paying off at the present time. It may look like your spouse and your children are not all you planned, prayed and hoped they would be, if that is the case, Hannah's story should encourage us to keep investing! Your family is too important for you to stop investing yourself in them now. It may seem like you do all the giving and receive none of the getting, but for those who make wise investments in their families, their dividends come at unexpected times and in marvelous ways!
Take some time today to evaluate how and what you are investing in your family. Do you need to shuffle some of your resources to receive better dividends? Are there some weak investments that need to have a little more attention paid to them? Whatever your particular situation is know that you can always seek the Lord's help as you try to improve your portfolio! It is His plan after all, who better to seek advice from!
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