Life is often difficult and messy. Some people might think this proves God isn’t there at all, or that he doesn’t care for us. But in 1 Samuel 1-2
we can get encouragement that God is really there and really cares. We see a woman named Hannah, who is tormented by her rival, cannot have children, and is at the point of despair. She prays so hard that the priest watching her thinks she is drunk. But she is confident that her God has heard her.
And as we continue through the story we see God has heard her, and gives her a son. And she praises God for him! And in her song (in 1 Samuel 2:1-10), she realizes that God’s character is consistent – he loves to raise up the humble and bring down the proud. The people in the Bible most honoured by God are nobody special – a shepherd boy David, a stuttering nobody like Moses, a prostitute named Rahab. And of course the Almighty God chose to save people through a weak-looking man who died on a cross.
So what this mean for you? It means God knows life is difficult and messy for us, and he cares for our problems and pain. He wants us to talk to him about them. He doesn’t promise he will give us what we want, like he did for Hannah, but whatever he gives us will be the best thing for us. God has a purpose and loves to care for those who seem insignificant, or weak, or helpless. He is a God of reversals.
(Based on ANPC Sunday teaching, May 30 2010).