This is part of an ongoing series during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. To engage further in the #QuarantineSoulCare series, click here.
“Hannah rose” (1 Samuel 1:9, ESV). What does it mean to get up off the couch when you are still hopeless? What does it mean to wait without being passive?
The Hebrew word … quwm … means “to rise up” or “to stand up.” It can also mean “to become powerful,” “to be established,” or “to persist.” Hannah stood up, an expression of her own agency. She chose to rise up above her painful circumstances and persist in her faith. …
It is one of the great crimes of the church that we have told people to wait silently in their anguish, to simply accept it without question. Over and over again in the Scriptures, we read about people who pour out their anguish to God, weeping bitterly without even considering the edit button.
Have you ever been told you can pour out your anguish in the presence of God, ugly crying, screaming, or raging your way through it? If we learn anything from Hannah, we learn that you can stand up in these long seasons of waiting and let God know how disappointed you are. We also learn you can boldly ask God for what you want. …
Hannah stands up in the middle of her waiting, and you and I need to follow her lead. Eli sees the strength in this remarkable woman, and he blesses her. … “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17).
God … puts poor people on their feet again;
he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
a place in the sun!
–1 Samuel 2:6-10, The Message
May today you rise up above your painful circumstances and persist in your faith. #quarantinesoulcare Click To Tweet
Today’s reading was taken from Beginnings by Steve Wiens.
