“So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:28, NIV)
Let me begin with a confession: I’ve always assumed the golf course is mine.
I know, no matter where I am playing, someone else is really the owner. It may be the membership or the municipality or some guy with a really cool business investment. When it comes to property rights, no golf course is mine.
But when it comes to pace of play and the kind of etiquette that rakes every bunker and repairs every ball mark, I can get pretty upset pretty quickly. Why are those people ahead of me taking so long to read their putts—and why didn’t they fill the divot my ball is presently resting in? Don’t they know this course is mine?
When it comes to golf, this attitude may be only personal. But when it comes to God, we are all too often guilty of assumptions. When our priorities get stood on end and the glory of God is subjugated to the comfort of me, we’re sure that the answer to every prayer will go in our favor. And when blessings pour down from our generous Father, we’re sure they’re ours to keep. Assumptions.
But let’s consider the instructive case of Hannah. In the opening chapter of 1 Samuel, this woman came before the Lord in desperate prayer. She could not conceive, which in her time was perhaps the greatest source of shame for any woman. She asked God to give her a child, promising that she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service.
Think on this. What more satisfying blessing could we receive from the Lord than a child wholly desired? And for what purpose could we imagine a “yes” answer to this prayer than that the Lord would have us hold and nurture this child, raising him or her to adulthood? Children instantly capture our hearts, as they are so much a part of our own selves. Of course God would give us a child for our own sakes.
Not so fast. Cut off your assumptions.
After her prayer, Hannah did become pregnant. She did give birth to a fine son. And on his first birthday, she returned to Jerusalem from her home in Ephraim, and gave her son to the priest Eli so that this boy, Samuel, might his whole life serve the Lord. Do you see it? Hannah never assumed that God blessed her for her own sake. Rather, she surrendered even the dearest gift God had ever given her, according to her promise and according to God’s plan—and ultimately for his glory!
Now, just to be careful, we can not also assume that every gift God gives us is intended to be given away. But that’s the point, isn’t it? That by our prayers we must arrest our assumptions. We pray not only for the provision of God’s hand, but we pray asking him to reveal to us just what he would have us do with the excellent things he provides.
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Jeff Hopper
October 22, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.