When we’re travelling through times of great trial, the first thing that springs to mind is that we must have done something wrong. Maybe … but as I read my Bible, what I discover is that pretty much all the great things that God has done, have been birthed out of times of trial.   1. Hannah’s Pain Hannah’s story from the old testament is one that absolutely touches my heart each and every time that I read with it. It’s a powerful story of a woman in some considerable distress. We’ve been programmed these days, that life – our lives in particular – should be filled with success. But the last time I checked, that’s not always the case. And the times when we really need to be able to trust in Jesus with great confidence, aren’t the easy times, they're the tough times. The Bible knows little if anything about worldly success. God’s plan for you and me isn’t a life of comfort and compromise, but one of sacrifice and suffering. That’s exactly what Jesus promised us, when He spoke to some would–be followers: Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. (Matthew 8:18–22) Now, we’re going to go a lot deeper with this – it’s one thing to hear someone – even Jesus – talking about this idea that following Him often means an uncomfortable journey, but it’s another thing entirely to see this principle in action. That’s why today, we’re going to spend some time with Hannah – so that you and I can discover the secret of having a strong confidence in Jesus, when the going gets tough – because it’s in those times, that we really, really need that confidence. Hannah’s is a story of adversity and out of that adversity, God births, quite literally, one of the great Prophets that He sends to His people. So let’s just spend the next few minutes entering into Hannah’s pain – 1 Samuel 1:1–8: There was a certain man whose name was Elkanah. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” No doubt there are some women tuned in today who either have been there or who are in that place right at the moment – but even as a man, I can just so feel the pain that Hannah was going through. Body clock is ticking, her heart is to have a child, and … nothing. But as bad and as tough as that is … it was even worse. Because layered on top of the personal pain, were two other things. The first and the most obvious is Peninnah – Elkanah’s other wife. Polygamy was all the rage in the early days of the Old Testament. It wasn’t until society had time to grow and mature that God revealed that this wasn’t His ideal plan. I mean it should have been obvious – Adam had one wife Eve, not two or more. But we humans have a way of wandering away from God’s ideal for us. And God has a way of choosing just the right time in history, to reveal His plans. So at this point, polygamy was the norm. That’s why Elkanah had two wives. That would be bad enough except one of them could have children and the other couldn’t and the one that could – Peninnah taunted the one that couldn’t Hannah. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. A terrible situation. A woman who can’t have children and a rival for her husband’s affections who can and then uses that to rub salt into her wounds, year after year. And the final layer of shame, as if all that weren’t enough, was that back in those days the thinking went something like this: If you were a good and godly person, God would bless you with many children. If you weren’t He wouldn’t. So Hannah’s plight was further compounded by the fact that socially, people looked down upon her. They would have whispered behind her back She can’t be a very good person, look God has cursed her and she is childless. Please … put yourself into Hannah’s shoes for a moment. How do you feel? Terrible right? You’d be asking some serious questions of God – Lord, why are you doing this. I’m doing my best to honour you and my husband. My rival is taunting me. People despise me. Lord what have I done to deserve this?! I don’t know that particular pains and trials you’ve gone through in your life, but this one of Hannah’s would rank right up there wouldn’t it? I mean you can equate your trials and your pain, with what Hannah is going through. This feeling that God has forsaken you. That God’s treatment of you isn’t fair. But I’d like to suggest that when you and I are having Hannah moments in our lives, often a mighty intervention of God is the last thing that we expect. In fact, we don’t even expect to be in this rotten situation in the first place, because well, surely God wants to bless me and surely if I’m living through a terrible curse like this, something … something terrible must be wrong in my relationship with God. It’s that false logic that I would like to kick in the guts today. This idea of – yes I am in God’s favour because I’m being blessed; and no – I must have fallen out of God’s favour and our of God’s plan, because I’m going through this terrible patch. That’s a lie, a distortion from the enemy, who’s dropped this healthy, wealthy and wise lie on our heads. Pretty much all the great things that God has done, birthed out of times of trial. And we’ll talk some more about that after this short break.   2. Hannah’s Prayer As I look back on that moment when I first laid hold of the truth that Jesus died for me – that, actually … the Son of God became a man, walked the dusty roads of 1st century Israel and was ultimately nailed to a cross, to pay for my wrongdoing – my heart leapt out of my chest and I decided to claim Him as My Saviour and My Lord. If you’re a bit like that, you know that desire in your heart to follow Jesus. The problem is when you’re having a Hannah moment, when the going gets tough, following Him with confidence just isn’t easy. The reason that we’re in the middle of this series of messages – Following Jesus with Confidence – is that we need to know how to follow Jesus with confidence during the difficult times. For me, it’s not enough to be told – have faith in God. That’s a great theory, but how do I live it out when I’m in a difficul...

Released on 12 Sep 2021