Handling Life's Disappointments

I'm looking forward to bringing this message to you today. I was able to bring it to our other congregation last week and... ...material that allows you to think of what you said the week before and what to add this week that hopefully will be an encouragement to all of us. As was mentioned in the opening prayer, a lot of us are going through challenges right now. You think about it and you think about the shoes that you're in right now.

None of us have a silver spoon. All of us are going through life's challenges. God is always very honest with us about the different stages of the human experience. When you think just of the 23rd Psalm, within that 23rd Psalm are all the different stages and all the different chapters of life. Some of them are more enjoyable than others, aren't they? When we think of still waters and sitting down by a stream, that's enjoyable. Or if we think of green meadows and being able to lay down in the meadow and being surrounded by woods and being able to look up at the mountains, that also is enjoyable in a wonderful stage of life.

We also recognize that at the end of the 23rd Psalm it talks about, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall not walk alone. So we recognize that even at the end that God is with us. Now with that stated, what have I left out? What I've left out are all of the disappointments in between. The disappointments that come up beyond the green meadows, beyond the still waters, and beyond what God has always stated that it is appointed unto all men once denied. And that's what I would like to address today.

Are not the beautiful and great and fantastic and wonderful aspects of life and or the reality of life that waits for each and every one of us, but what about all of that area in between and how do we handle it? The question I have for you today is how do we handle life's disappointments? I'd like you to think about that for just a moment rather than me just going on. Let's have some interactivity of thought here.

What are you disappointed about? What perhaps lies barren in your human landscape? What has not been planted in your life that you think ought to be there right now? I'm watching all of you and I see the wheels turning. That's good. Just don't mow me down because I'm going to come back to you in a moment with a message that I think will be encouraging because I'd like to deal today and bring along a companion with you and for you, an individual that had a tremendous disappointment.

Thought perhaps that life had passed them by. And yet how that individual dealt with disappointment and how ultimately God blessed that very sane individual. I'd like to have you join me, if you would, please in the book of 1 Samuel. Come with me to 1 Samuel. Let's open up our Bibles. Open Bibles are an indication of an open heart that we're ready to receive a message from God on the Sabbath day.

And I'd like to talk about an individual that lived at a very, very unique time. This individual lived at the very end of what we call the time of the Judges. And it was a little bit like the Wild West of old.

Everybody was doing that, which is right in their own eyes. If you go to the end of the book of Judges, in fact, it says that. That's the description. That's the headline. And in that time, every man did that, which was right in their own eyes. The nation seemingly was moving away from the one that had delivered them from Egypt. But even as this was the overall landscape of what was occurring, there were individuals that were indeed, even at that time, desiring to seek a more meaningful relationship with God.

And we find an individual like that in the individual of Hannah. And that's what we're going to talk about. She's going to be our guide. She's going to be our compass. She's going to be that open book as to how she handled life's disappointment and then how God dealt with her. Join me, if you would, in 1 Samuel 1 and verse 1.

Interesting. It mentions now there was a certain man of Ramapham, a Zothim of the mountains of Ephraim. And his name was Elchanah, the son of Jorohim. The son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuf, who was an Ephraimite. And notice that this one man had two wives. We know we're already in trouble. The names of the one were Hannah, and the other name was Penanah.

Now, notice what it mentions here about the two individuals. Penanah had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up from his city, yearly, to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Host and Shiloh. Because that's where the tabernacle was at that time. There was not yet a permanent edifice for Israel. And it was a portable edifice. It was called the tabernacle.

At this given time, it was in Shiloh. And every year, at the pilgrimage festivals, the men went up. And it says, also the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were also there.

And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, notice, he would give portions to Penanah, his wife, and all of her sons, notice, all... You can just kind of put about ten syllables on that for emphasis. All of her sons. Sounds like she had a whole ball team. And daughters.

But to Hana, he would give her a double portion, for he loved Hana, although the Lord had closed her womb. Now, let's notice something, and may I say, welcome to all in the family. We've got a lot going on here. We have to understand for a moment.

We have one man, two wives. What do we learn in our society today? One woman per kitchen. Works real well. Have you noticed, ladies? That's how they like to do it. And men, forget it. Remember what God did in the beginning. He made Adam and Eve.

Not Adam and Eve, and Sally and Jane and Linda and Marsha, and on and on. One man for one woman. That was God's ideal, and that's what was intended.

As man moved away from Eden, man in his own mind and in his own reasoning developed a socio-economic system of survival. To where, more and more, there would be more wives and concubines and this and that. But God's ideal was always from the beginning.

Marriage. One man, one woman. And yes, one woman per kitchen. So we notice that one man, two wives. Are you with me? Many children. One wife was loved. One wife had children.

One wife gave love. One wife gave children. Now we're ready to continue. Notice what it says.

This Hannah, and it's interesting, which tells you a little bit, that Penanah's name literally means jewel, shiny.

On the outward surface, here was one that glistened with all of her children and all of the offspring that came from her. While at the same time, Hannah's name meant settled and or fixed, which is very interesting. And what we're going to come to see is what she was settled and what she was fixed on and what she was anchored to.

Very interesting that what we see here is that it says that the Lord had closed her womb.

Now, let's understand something that in that day and in that age, recognizing the socio-economic climate of needing to have many, many, many, many children just to survive because so many so often died in childbirth, much less just the need to have children, much less the theological and religious overtones of that day.

It is to recognize that at that time, if one did not have children, obviously, notice, ladies, it was never pinned on the man.

It must have been something with the woman, that the woman was considered to, in a sense, not be fulfilling her duty.

And it was, in a sense, a tremendous burden that here is a woman that in the biblical language was barren.

Nothing was happening. So it must have been something that she had done.

We see that in the stories of Jesus later with those that were lame or blind, that the religious communities thought in that day that if this was happening and this was happening and they couldn't do this, therefore there must have been a reason and or there had been sin involved, either by ancestors or by themselves.

But what we recognize here, and what I want to begin to draw your attention to, friends, is this. Notice what it says in verse 5, But the LORD had closed her womb. Now, how do we know that? And how did Hannah know that at the time? She did not at the time.

Let's remember that 1 Samuel is written by Samuel. This is after the fact. Isn't it wonderful to be a Monday morning quarterback?

And to have the benefit of looking back and beginning to understand everything.

But my purpose here is not to encourage you to be Monday morning quarterbacks with whatever your disappointment or whatever your barren spot is in your life right now.

The purpose of this message is to encourage you to have present vision towards the future and to recognize that perhaps the disappointment or the weakness that is occurring in your life has been granted to you so that you might be strengthened by God's Spirit, that you might be molded, that you might be completed not only for ourselves but for others to learn from, to grow from, to be encouraged from, to be lifted to.

And this we find in the story of Hannah. It's so easy. I was just telling Susan as we're coming down. It's so easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Now, we wouldn't wait for her to say that the future can be gained on Sunday, aren't it? What we need to do is ask God to have the vision of a Monday morning quarterback on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and begin to understand and perceive the things that God is doing with us rather than simply looking back. Now, that's going to happen sometimes, even if we do try to do that, because it's often been said that the poem that is read by the man of 20 reads differently when they're 80, because you understand life's circumstances along. But here, Samuel is looking back, and he makes a statement that we accept. This was of the divine. God had closed her womb for a reason.

But notice then what happens. That was challenging enough not to, in that sense, be able to have offspring, but then also notice what God allowed. And her rival, that is the other woman in the kitchen, Penanah, provoked her severely to make her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb.

It's tough enough to have what they call issues today. When I was growing up, they were called problems. Now they're called issues. You have an issue. It's tough enough to have problems or issues or those barren spots in our human landscape, those major disappointments that we already know about. Nobody needs to tell us.

We know what's happening in our life, but then you have the so-and-so next to you reminding you Penanah was just unceasingly, unmerciful, made her miserable. Not just a little bit unhappy, but miserable because the Lord had closed her womb. And this wasn't just a one-time altercation.

Have you ever noticed sometimes you're on a freeway and somebody's just right on your tail? That is the tail of your car. On your tail. They're just making you miserable. You can't go to the left, you can't go to the right. They start honking. They start flashing their lights on you. They start almost touching your bumper. That's miserable. But you know, and I know, if we don't provoke them any further, eventually they're going to glide around and go by us on their way.

And we won't see their light until the next time. Months down the line. But Penanah was not going to go away. Notice what it says. So it was, year by year. You know, just like dripping water. And when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her. It wasn't enough to be provoked. Think about this for a moment. It was not enough to be provoked in the same kitchen or the same tent or the tents that were by one another where Elkanah lived. But in a sense, as they were going, are you ready? To church. To the tabernacle. To the holy spot.

That this woman did not cease to provoke her. And therefore she wept and did not eat. And God allowed this. To a woman who was, for all practical purposes, would be a saint. And yet she was also very human, as we're going to find.

Then Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? Why is it that sometimes men are clueless as to what's going on with their ladies? And then, just when they think that they're going to make it better, they make it worse. You know, the Bible is kind of humorous sometimes. Notice what it says there.

Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than 10 sons? No!

I'm trying to tell you I love you! L-O-V-E! That's why women love us. We're a work in motion. We're still trying to get it right. Why is your heart grieved? And it was grieved. Verse 9, So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh.

Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. And notice what it says here, which is really interesting. Because here's an individual that God was working with and was going to be working in a far greater capacity and whose name has come down to us to this day as a righteous woman. But God is very open about the people that he deals with. And she was in bitterness of soul. Bitterness is not a good place to be, is it? Perhaps some of us at times have had to deal with bitterness. And that's something, and one of the reasons why I'm bringing this message to you, because if we don't deal with disappointment, disappointment can turn into despair. And if we don't deal with despair, ultimately it can cause a departure from the greatest hope of the one that can help us with that bitterness. And that's God Almighty. Let's notice Hebrews 12, just for a moment. Hebrews 12 and verse 15 in this regard, the author of the book of Hebrews makes quite a statement here in Hebrews 12. Verse 15, looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, and notice what it says, unless any root of bitterness springing up, cause trouble. And by this many become defiled. It's interesting that the Bible describes bitterness like a root. I've often described it like a taproot. Have you ever pulled on a weed? You get the fingers on the ground. Now most of you are saying, why are you using your fingers? Why don't you use a spade? For that crowd, I understand. But it's more fun to get your fingers there. The little roots get out, but then you pull. What's with that? It shouldn't be like that. You pull and all of a sudden you recognize it's like you're bringing in that fish. It's on the line. And you recognize you've got a taproot going down into that soil. You've probably never thought about this. I'm watching your faces. Okay. And you say, what if I can just get that right? And I mean, that's one long carrot down there, but it's a root. Finally you pull it up and you go, wow! Look how far that root went down. It was just a little plant, but it sank down a root real deep. That's what God is telling us in the book of Hebrews. When it comes to bitterness, that's something that you don't want to have growing underneath your human soil. God says, don't go there. That's one of the reasons why He gives us the example of Hannah, to learn how to deal with life's disappointments. Now, she could have remained bitter, but she chose not to.

The first step is probably the biggest step, and that's to recognize not to hold it to yourself and to begin to communicate with the one that can help you. She was in the bitterness of soul. Notice, she prayed to the Lord, and she wept in anguish. Notice what it says. Then she made a vow and said, O Lord of Hosts, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your maidservant, and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.

Now, that's what we need to begin to look at, is to recognize that maybe some of us are our energy is going the wrong way. Our energy is going inward, and it's going down. That's very natural. That is very human. But that is not going to bring us the answers that we need, and it's not going to allow us to glorify God. The first step that we recognize is just the talking, is just the discussion, is just the communication and the interaction with the One that can begin to deal with our hearts and our minds and open the future to us. The communication does not necessarily have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be the Queen's English or the King's English. It doesn't have to be without emotion. It doesn't have to be all organized like most messages and most sermons ought to be. Line upon line, it's a matter of beginning to communicate and sharing honestly and transparently with God the way that you feel. And this we find her doing, and she just opens up, and then she makes this bargain with God. Now, bargaining is a very common thing that you find in the Bible. Who else made a bargain with God in praying with them? Anybody help me for a second? Who else? I kind of run from the family here. Kind of a family. Who else? Who also bargained with God? Very famous bargain. This is not in the church, but I know you always look at me. It is in the Bible. Go ahead, David.

Okay. Regarding His and Bathsheba's son? Their son?

Okay. Mr. Berega? Jacob. Jacob bargained with God? Okay. Who else? I'm thinking of a specific one that maybe everybody knows. Yes. Abraham. What did Abraham do?

Yeah. Right. See, God already knew how many people were saving in that city at that time. He allowed Abraham in that discussion to come down to reality. And that's kind of what prayer does. Prayer does not always change God's mind, but it allows us more to understand God's mind as we continue in the prayer cycle. Abraham was an optimist, and he didn't really recognize the depravity that was there in Sodom. So he started up with what, about 50, wasn't it? Then worked him down to 40, 30. You know, it was almost like a bidder, you know, in a country fair. Do I hear? Do I hear? Do I hear? And Abraham was bargaining. It's interesting here that Hannah did not have to bargain with God. And we all do that, don't we, at times? We make a bargain with God. A lot of guys on tin cans out in the Pacific Ocean, or in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, made a bargain with God, especially when all the artillery lit up. Mr. Tabert can probably tell you about that. You know, as the enemy planes were coming at you, and those bullets were bouncing all over and going through your buddies, you know, what's the first thing you say? Oh, Lordy, if you get me out of here, I will forever go to church every... the other day, the rest of my life. Oh, well, you're bargaining. You're throwing the chips down, and you're making the whole thing happen right there. The bottom line of the Bible, as is actually this, friends, and this was interesting, this is a bargain that she's making. But it's kind of interesting. My wife and I had a discussion, and Susie said the last week when I was giving this before I gave it, and we were just talking about it, she said, we don't need to bargain with God, but that's where we normally start. What God wants is not bargaining, He wants trust. We just have to allow... surrender our lives and trust God rather than bargaining. We always go, if you do this, then I will do this. But this is an elementary stage. It's all right to begin with. Let's take a look at this, what happens then. I'll give them to you, Lord. It says, and no razor shall come upon His head. He's going to be special. He is going to be a Nazarite. Now, Nazarites were very special. The word Nazarite literally means separated. There were two kinds of Nazarites. There was a Nazarite in perpetuity, which meant for all of their life. There were Nazarites by degrees that basically took a vow for 30, 60, or 90 days.

Allow me to explain. We look at Samuel as a Nazarite. We also look at John the Baptist was a Nazarite. We might say that we get indications out of the New Testament that the Apostle Paul, even as a Christian, was in a sense taking an Azaritic vow. There was something happening. We went up to fulfill his vows at the end of days in Jerusalem. So even then, people were taking a 30, 60, or 90-day Nazaritic vow to separate themselves apart.

Basically, the threefold aspect of an Azarite was that there was no razor to go to the hair on their head as a sign of humility, as a man of God. Also, that they could not partake of alcohol, which meant a life of sobriety, a life of measurement, a life of soberness before God. They could touch no dead thing, which means that they had to learn to separate the Holy from the profane. In other words, they would have measured thinking and notice what they were coming to contact with. Kind of sounds like the life of a Christian, doesn't it? That we are to avoid the dead things of society, that we are to live a life of soberness and sobriety and measurement, and that we are to be a humble people before our God and before one another. And so she was willing, in that sense, to give her son.

But then notice what happens. And it happened as she continued praying before the Lord. So this was not just a, Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep. This was an ongoing, lengthy prayer that was occurring, that Eli, the high priest, watched her mouth. Now, Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved. But her voice was not heard. And therefore, Eli thought, what's she doing in here? Oh no! A drunk! She's drunk! So Eli said to her, how long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you.

Now, Eli did exactly what all of us have done at one time or another. We've stuck our nose into somebody else's business, and we thought that we'd do their business, but it wasn't what they were busy about doing at all.

Boy, isn't this a big lesson?

What was Eli guilty of?

Eli was guilty of utilizing circumstantial evidence.

Let me break that down easier, what I call low-anglo-saxon terminology. Seemed like, seemed like, sounds like.

Hmm. Look. Wow.

We've all done that, haven't we? Indicted people without really knowing what they're really saying or what they're really doing. And so then we begin to connect their dots without their permission, putting them on a trajectory which they have not even chosen to be, because what? It seems like.

Powerful lesson for all of us, isn't it? And over the years, the one thing that I've had to learn is, a minister is to be very careful about seems like. People have often come to me as a judge, as one that they feel they need to bring something to, and they say they start throwing down all these dots. And I said, sounds very interesting, but what you're really bringing to me is circumstantial evidence.

And I cannot become involved in circumstantial evidence. Normally what they say is, are you sure? Do you want to take that responsibility? Yeah, I do. Because I have not been called to weigh circumstantial evidence. It's not good. We find that in the story of Hannah.

Here is a man of God, Eli, coming on heavy. Then notice what it says. But Hannah answered and said, so if you don't know how to deal with life's disappointments, and you don't get the point on that today, just get this other point on Eli. Be careful what you think you hear.

Be cautious with what you think you see. Because then, if you make a judgment harshly, incorrectly, that will be disappointing to the individual as well to God above, who has called us not to do that. Notice verse 15, Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink. But I have poured out my soul before the Lord. When you take... I don't have a cup up here right now.

But when you've poured out, that's in the past tense. That means there's nothing left to discuss. She put the whole story out there. She laid it all down. When you have poured out your soul, that means there's nothing left in your human cup. You've kind of laid all the cards out there before God, and let Him know how you feel.

Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief, and I have spoken notice until now. Now, let's understand something. Here was a woman that was being attacked by Pena Na, who was saddened, who was embittered, but she didn't stay there.

What we notice is she began to have a discussion and a conversation with God, what was lacking in her life and disappointing, and that she had not expected to come into her life when she was 12 or 15 or 18, but was now a reality that was occurring in her life. She just kind of lit it all out, maybe even some of the four-letter words. I don't know. I don't know what four-letter words are like in Hebrew. But she just lit it out there, because that's how she felt. Let's understand something when we're talking with God.

God may not always agree with everything that we say in prayer, but He will accept our honesty. I want you to think about this for a moment. When we're praying to God, honesty and acceptance are the steps to transformation. Accepting where you are at, and honesty with where you are at with God, and how you feel about where you are at humanly is a step to transformation. Allow me to show you how it works right out of the Bible.

Psalm 69, join me, please. Another man that would be just a few years later. The Psalms are really just prayers to God, aren't they? They're communication to God from a man who is very passionate about God. And yet, he had ups and downs. And God doesn't remember where we start.

He knows where we start. That's why he gave us his son, didn't he? Because he knows where we start. It's where we finish up. Notice Psalm 69, words of David. Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire. Basically, he's as mad as a wet hen. I have to have seen a wet hen to know what mad is like.

There is no standing. I've come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. I've talked about it so long, I have no more spit down in my throat. My eyes fail while I wait for my God. I am being depleted. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs in my head. They just keep on coming over the hill. They are mighty who would destroy me. Being my enemies wrongfully, though I've stolen nothing, I still must restore it.

Here's David just pouring it out, laying it on the line. God, this is how I feel. This is my circumstance right now. But then notice what happens. Join me in verse 29. As we begin to have that conversation with God about our disappointments. That's so important because sometimes we put more on ourselves then God puts on ourselves. I can't say anything because I'm a Christian. Christians are supposed to be like this.

God also still recognizes that we're in this human framework. That we will have disappointments. That unlike God, the past, the present, and the future are not yet seamless. Therefore, He accepts our communication. Verse 29.

For the Lord hears the poor, does not despise His prisoners. Basically what God is saying, this is better than sacrifice. Pure, honest, unadulterated, transparent communication, sharing with God our aches, our pains, our disappointments. Disappointments at time of which He is allowing for His divine purpose. He says it's better than sacrifice. It's better than an ox. It's better than a bull. It's better than a turtled dove. When we sacrifice ourselves and when we put ourselves on the altar, we're beginning to do something that is very, very important. Notice what happens here then.

God begins now to deal with Hannah. Notice verse 17. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition, which you have asked of Him. And she said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way, and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Rather than becoming bitter, her spiritual condition became better. What do we learn from this? Where was the bridge and what are the steps on that bridge from going from bitter and disappointment to becoming better and a vehicle for God to deal with?

The first point I'd like to share with you is this. Again, to reiterate, she honestly prayed before God. She was just honest. What did our grandmothers teach us when we were young? Honesty is the best policy. Honesty is very important. Number two, she received encouragement from Eli. Notice verse 17, then Eli answered and said, Go in peace. And the God of Israel grant your petition, which you have asked of Him. She gained encouragement from somebody. And it's interesting, the same man that had indicted her. Did you notice how quickly Eli returned? How quickly God used him to encourage Hannah? He could have gone, Oh, what have I done? Oh, blow it again. He could have just kind of shriveled back, taken himself out of the game. What we notice is very encouraging. And I want to encourage all of you today to look at this example. That the Lord and the God that we worship is the Lord of return. That no matter what we have done, either with our hands, with our mouth, with our mind, or our hearts, God is always able and always willing and wants us to get back into the game. Wants us to be a part of His family. Wants us to be a part of the body of Christ. Wants us to be there for others. And oftentimes what God will do is He'll, if He didn't get it right the first... Have you ever noticed that when He really blown it big time? Know what I mean by blowing it big time? God doesn't take it away. He brings it around again until you get it right.

And here is Hannah. Now He has an opportunity to come back and notice what He says again. Go in peace. God bless you. Rather than indicting Hannah, He blesses her on behalf of God. And then notice the third point. And the third point is this, is that she resolved to leave the problem with God. Notice what it says. After that blessing, she said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight so the woman went her way. And by going her way, it really means that she left her issues with God. She surrendered her life. And rather than carrying her disappointment, she handed and transferred that over to God's perfect will. God, whatever you will, that's it. And so she, in that sense, did that. She left the problem. And then notice what it says. It's very interesting. And her face was no longer sad. Her countenance, it's very interesting when you go through the, shall we say, the good people and the bad people of the Bible? For there are both. How often does God talk about their countenance? Our countenance is but an outward expression of what's happening here on the inside regarding our trust towards God. Notice in verse 19, Then they arose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elchanah knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And so it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the Lord. Very interesting. And we can never cease but to be amazed and give God praise and worship that God remembers his people. What are you going through right now? I'm looking, and I know most of your stories left or right in this audience. And if I don't know your story, may I say something? God knows your story, and God hears your prayers, and knows how you're having that conversation with them. The one thing I want to ask you to focus on here is in verse 19, God knows where you're at and remembers his promises to you. He remembers his promise to you just as much as he remembered Ruth when she seemed alone in that barley field outside of Bethlehem. He remembers you as much as Cornelius when he was being valiant and being the first Gentile to come into the church. He remembers you as much as the man that was blind but now could see that was abandoned by everybody in his family, in his neighborhood, and in his church. My favorite story in the Bible, that after he was forsaken by everybody, his family, his neighbors, and the good church folk of that time, it says, and Jesus came to him as a church member was kicked out of the church of that time.

As the religious individual was kicked out of the house of the Lord, are you with me? The Lord of the house, the Christ, came to the man. He was still having that conversation with him. He said, Who do you say that I am? Whatever you're going through right now in your life, God knows where you are. He knows your heart. He knows your desire to serve him. He understands your humanity. As Mr. Beatty brought out, that's why he gave us Jesus Christ to tie us into the Father. He knows exactly what we're going through, and he knows the answers that we have. And right now, there might be a disappointment that seems very deep to you, but do you recognize the disappointment that you're going through right now might be the bright spot in the future for God to use you completely, fully, to glorify him, to talk about him, to share a story, to comfort others, not only in the kingdom, but right now in San Diego, or in El Cajon, or La Mesa.

What we're going through as Christians is not a dead end unto itself. It's always for a purpose. Let's finish the story here. Now, the man El Canaw, in all in his house, went up to offer the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, Not until the child is weaned, then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.

So El Canaw, her husband, said, or do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish his word. And then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. And now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bowls and one apple of flour and a skin of wine and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and then they slaughtered a bowl and brought the child to Eli.

And she said, O my Lord, as your soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord, for this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives, and he shall be lent to the Lord. And so they worshiped the Lord there. Amazing story. The question, though, is where does it begin or where does it end? Wonder if Hannah had not taken the step of communicating.

Even the communication that was bitter and sorrowful and maybe kind of earthy. She might have even made a few naughty comments about pinna in her prayer. Like, get her off my back. That, whatever. But that's where it started. God does not work in a vacuum. For God to work, we've got to give him something. Even our little. And if we give God our little, he can take our little and he can take it much.

God's favorite miracles in the Bible is taking something that is nothing and making it something. Think of the story of Hannah. The woman that was barren became fruitful. Think of Elizabeth, a woman past menopause who could not have children. Fruitful. What about the example of Mary, a virgin who had not known man. It's not biblical. Not man. The virgin. Granted to have the child of God. What about Sarah, who was probably, we know she was at least AARP, probably Social Security and above. And yet God granted a miracle. What about the little boy who had the bread and the fish? Just a basket. The disciples didn't believe it.

But what the little boy had, he gave. And remember, the end of that story is, the rub that ended the disciples who didn't think there was enough bread in that village, they had to go around and collect everything with baskets afterwards. God's favorite miracle is to take that which is low and to make it high.

I want to share in conclusion, join me. If you haven't opened up your Bible, join me in 1 Samuel. We perhaps know what is called the Magnificant, which is Mary's Prayer. But Mary's Prayer in the book of Luke is actually the New Testament version of what Hannah says here in 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel, join me there for a second, because I want to bring us to point. 1 Samuel. And notice what it says here.

Notice the prayer of Hannah. 2 And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. 3 My horn, and the horn was an instrument of victory. 4 The horn goes back to Moriah, goes back to Abraham, goes back to the ram that is called in the thicket. 5 It is a symbol of salvation that God will provide. 6 My horn is exalted in the Lord. 7 I smile at my enemies, penanah, because I rejoice in your salvation.

8 No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you, nor is there any rock like our God. 9 Talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth, 10 for the Lord is the God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

10 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumble are girded with strength. 11 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and the hungry have ceased to hunger. 12 Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble. 13 The Lord kills, the Lord makes alive, he brings down to the grave and brings up. 14 The Lord makes poor, and he makes rich, he brings low and lifts up. 15 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, 16 to set them among princes, and make them inherit the throne of glory.

17 For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them, 18 and he will guard the feet of his saints. But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. 19 For by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. 20 From heaven he will thunder against them, and the Lord will judge the ends of the earth, 21 and he will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his people. 22 Notice verse 7. The Lord makes poor, and he makes rich, he brings low and lifts up.

I want you to plan a thought in your head as we conclude. 23 These are words of Jubilee.

24 God's time was always about to return. It's always about opportunity. 25 When we look at, and here's the thought I want to plan in here, 26 when we look at 1 Samuel 2, these are words of Jubilee. 27 The words of Mary in Luke 1 and Luke 2 are words of Jubilee. 28 Isaiah 61. Join me there for a second. Isaiah 61 are words of Jubilee. 29 The Bible, think about it this way, is about a book of Jubilee, of return, of starting over, 30 of God clearing the slate, of God interrupting our personal lives, and interrupting the history of this world. 31 The Spirit of the Lord, verse 1, is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

32 And he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, those that have barren spots in their life, 33 those that have been disappointed, those that have been on the outside looking in, 34 and the opening of the prison to those who are bound and to proclaim that acceptable year of the Lord. 35 When you look at Scripture and the various stories of Scripture, of how God allows people to start over, 36 and you think of Jubilee, it ties the entire Bible together. 37 You know, it's kind of interesting when you think about it. 38 One woman's prayer, what it led to was the birth of a son. 39 And you recognize that when Samuel was born, wow, what did Samuel do? 40 He finished the work of the judges. 41 He started a school for the prophets, and he was allowed to anoint the first two kings of Israel. 42 Why? Because a woman decided not to be bitter, and not to stay stuck in the gear of disappointment.

43 But it began with a conversation with the only one that could help her. 44 Where are you today in the lane of life? Are you stuck in the gear of disappointment?

45 If you are, be encouraged. That's why we read. We read to know that we are not alone. 46 Pull up a chair besides Hannah. Get to know her. Get to know your God. 47 He'll be able to hear you, and He will be able to ascribe to you His perfect will.