God can Bless in our Distress

1 Samuel 1:1–20 NLT

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?” Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

Introduction: Theme Verses

2 Corinthians 10:5 LEB

and all pride that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Philippians 4:6–7 LEB

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In this Biblical Story, we can say there is some bullying going on, and some Major Distress going on. The question from this passage I would like to ask is...

32 - How Do We Address the Distress in our Life?

The Book of Samuel is about how do we get David. (Samuel - Saul - David)

But it begins in a most interesting manner. A story about ordinary people, and one particular person in distress.

- Hannah - Barren - Grief, judgment, condemnation from the community.

- Her “Rival” bullies her. - Note on Palygamy. - Descriptive, Not Prescriptive.

- Her husband doesn’t get it. He is frustrated because all his generosity towards her is not enough.

- And the Priest Mis-Judges her as a lush.

- Hannah is Distressed, in deep, deep grief

Merriam-Webster’s classifies grief as a noun (or thing) that means a “deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement,” such as the death of a loved one or cherished pet (Merriam-Webster, s.v. “grief [n.],” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grief). The word mourn is recorded as a verb (or an action), meaning “to feel or express grief or sorrow” (Merriam-Webster, s.v. “mourn [v.],” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mourn). In other words, grief is the emotions (anger, sorrow, guilt) we feel after a loss; mourning is the expression of the emotions we feel after a loss.

1. Grief is not just because result of the physical death of a loved one. Dreams unfulfilled, the hope for marriage, a specific career, parenthood, or healing from chronic pain or illness. When those hopes don’t come to pass, our tendency is to try to bury our disappointment and act as if it doesn’t exist. - A major change,

- In her book 100 Days to Brave, Annie F. Downs writes about her counselor giving her permission to mourn the loss of a dream. She writes, “It’s easy to take unanswered prayers and disappointments in our lives and brush them under the rug so we don’t have to think about them. But you know what, friend? It’s okay to mourn your dreams that have died” (Annie F. Downs, 100 Days to Brave [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017], 64–65).

What Hannah does is important for us in times of Distress.

33 - Pour Out Your Soul to the Lord.

Hannah tells Eli she is not drunk, but Pouring out her Soul to the Lord.

Is this the first thing you do when you are distressed? Often it is not mine. I start planning, figuring out how I am going to respond to those who are making me distressed.

But when we mourn our Distress towards God, we invite him to enter into our pain and bring healing.

This idea of Pouring Out our Soul is all over the Psalms.

34 - 38

Psalm 42:1–5 NIV

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

39 - It is a battle and it is not easy, we should not pretend it is easy.

• Question: Why are you downcast....Put your hope in God...

• We may not feel like praying…My encouragement is to do it anyway. Keep the lines of communication Going. Let God know you are thirsty, panting, etc…Be Brutally Honest with God.

• We need to remind ourselves that God is faithful and that our feelings aren’t the basis for the truth. God’s Word is. Feelings come and go, but God’s character and his Word last forever.

Well you may ask, How does Pouring out Our Soul to God help?

40 - God Can Bless in our Distress

1. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Here God promises not to leave us to suffer in our grief and sorrow alone.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “The disciple-community does not shake off sorrow as though it were no concern of its own but willingly bears it. … Sorrow cannot tire them or wear them down, it cannot embitter them or cause them to break down under the strain; far from it, for they bear their sorrow in the strength of him who bears them up, who bore the whole suffering of the world upon the cross. … This is their comfort, or better still this Man is their comfort, the Comforter (cf. Luke 2.25)” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship [New York: Touchstone, 1995], 109).

Like he did with Hannah, the Lord sees and remembers our griefs and sorrows, and he longs for us to invite him into our grieving process so he can bring eternal healing and transformation to our lives.

Speaking it to God, forces us to acknowledge it. There is something powerful about speaking.

It takes it from in us where it is churning on the inside, and puts it out there to be examined. - It’s like throwing up.

And then it is received by the God of the Universe, and Jesus who identifies with our distress. He takes it on the Cross.

41 - Application: When Distressed, Pour Out Your Soul to God.

There are two additional things I believe send Hannah home less distressed, and more blessed.

42 - Remembering God’s Promises

Hannah’s request is part of the grieving process - bargaining.

But the request also invokes promises - The promise to remember (ie. do something) about her state.

And God ultimately does for Hannah. Seemingly not helpful for many people who don’t always get a direct answer.

But this story mirrors Israel’s story.

Hannah is distressed, Israel is distressed because their society is falling a part. Not what they hoped for.

Hannah asks for a Child she will give into the Lord’s Service, and the Lord is promising a King who will Lead Israel in God’s way - David, but ultimately it is Jesus.

Remembering God’s Promises to Love us in Jesus, to walk with us, answering prayers, while we walk this earth, and ultimately taking all distress when he comes again.

43 - Application: Remember God’s Promises...

44 - God uses Others to Bless

God Uses Eli’s Blessing:

The Priest in the O.T. is the intermediary so what he says would have been received by Hannah as Words from God Himself.

My First visit as a Chaplain - I simply prayed, and the women cried. “I Believe the Lord has heard me.”

- 45 - A Lament Psalm - Psalm 22 when the lady was describing her unworthiness.

Psalm 22:6 LEB

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by humankind and despised by people.

- My experience in CPE praying with other people. - My former boss who came to me for prayer.

- Listen to what they are saying (more than just words) and lift up their words to the Lord.

Listen to the Holy Spirit and Pray what he says.

46 - We are not the intermediary, Jesus is, but when we pray with others this way.

We Model how to pour out our Soul to God.

The people will sense that the Lord has listened to them, because you did.

The people will sense that the Lord has spoken, because they will hear the Holy Spirit’s words.

- Man I prayed for. He said, wow, you actually heard what I was saying.

Conclusion: God Wants to Bless when we are in Distress.