The View From the Cockpit

 “And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always.”

I Samuel 2: 34-35

How good is your vision?

Can you see as much of your environment at ground level as you can see from a window on the thirtieth floor of a building?

Your perspective is quite different at those two vantage points isn’t it?

How about the window seat of an airplane several miles up?

It may be a great view on a sunny, cloudless day but it cannot compare to the view the pilot has from the cockpit.

Now let me ask you about your spiritual eyesight?

Can it compare to Gods?

Of course not!

God is Omnipresent and Omniscient.

 There is nothing – past, present or future that is hidden from Him.

The last few days we have been talking about the hardship that Hannah endured and her persistence in prayer.

I wonder if, on her annual treks to the Lords’ house in Shiloh, she ever encountered the bad behavior of Eli’s sons.

Scripture says they were wicked and their behavior contemptible. 

We are not told in the record of any interaction between Hophni, Phineas and Hannah.

Suppose she did observe their evil handling of the sacred priesthood they had been entrusted with?

Do you suppose she would have made a connection between them and her barrenness?

Probably not.

She was looking at life, hers in particular, at ‘ground level’.

If she ever prayed for a restoration of holiness in the priesthood she doubtless would never have thought it would be tied to her fervent prayer for a child. 

She did not have the perspective of God.

Neither do we.

God answered her prayer and she greatly rejoiced in His answer.

Her barrenness was over and God was, through the answer to her prayer, also addressing the spiritual barrenness of the Nation of Israel.

Her prayer answered a need she probably never considered.

How about your prayer?

What will God accomplish when you remain persistent in prayer through the hardships you are enduring?

You may never understand the full scope of the answer to that question but don’t let that stop you from persevering.

Hannah didn’t!