Hannah Gives Thanks

 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.”

I Samuel 2:1-2

 

The Word of God is filled with examples of expressions of gratitude.

Allow me to share one with you...

....but before I do I have a question for you –

If you were pregnant, having tried many, many years to be so, at what point would you express your gratitude to God?

Would it be when the home pregnancy test came back positive?

Maybe you might be a little apprehensive about the accuracy of the test so you would save your gratitude for the ‘official’ doctor pronouncement.

Or, let’s say you already had three boys and the heartfelt gratitude comes when you discover you are carrying a girl – at long last.

What about the mom who holds the baby immediately after the delivery room nurse places her or him on your chest?

How about then?

Is that the point at which you would express your gratitude?

It is fascinating to me that the prayer of gratitude prayed by Hannah was when she handed Samuel over to Eli the priest to be raised by him as a servant to the Lord.

I have no doubt that if she expressed gratitude in handing over her long desired child to Eli that we would find in her a lifestyle of gratitude.

I just find it fascinating that it was at this point her gratitude overflows in a prayer of thanks to God.

You can read the full story in 1 Samuel Chapter 1 and find her complete prayer in Chapter 2 of that same book.

Tomorrow, let’s discover a second example of gratitude from the Word of God.