Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Watching Others Get Blessed

Last weekend, we put the finishing touches on the nursery. My husband set up the furniture while I washed baby clothes and set up the bedding. I had not had a chance to tackle the baby gifts and thought it would be a good time to put everything away and in it's place. I wondered how Gracie would react to the bags of baby presents being pulled out and cataloged. Surprisingly, she was very helpful and excited. "Baby sister will look so cute in this outfit, momma. Isn't this the sweetest thing, mom? Baby sister will love this present!" she would say while we were unpacking the gifts. I was so worried about Gracie's feelings and seeing all of the things the baby was getting, but Gracie was instead excited for the baby.

How you ever sat by and watched someone else get all of the blessings and wondered "When will it be my turn?" The Bible tells the wonderful story of Hannah as she was watching others get blessed.

You know the story, Hannah had wanted children for years but she had none. Instead, she found herself watching Peninnah have all of the children. Peninnah wasn't helping much; she kept rubbing her fertility in Hannah's face. Hannah was deeply hurt and tired of watching someone else get blessed with the one thing she wanted. Hannah went to the temple and poored out her heart to God in prayer. In 1 Samuel 1:11, Hannah prayed "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life." The Bible says she "wept in bitterness of soul". When your soul is so broken that you're bitter, you are at your lowest of low. Eli sees her praying outloud and thinks Hannah is drunk, but Hannah corrects him. Verse 16, "I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief," she tells him. The rest of the story is revealed. Hannah has a baby and names him Samuel.

It's hard to watch others get blessed with the very things you've longed for. But if God puts a specific desire in your heart, I believe He will see that desire come to fruition in your life.

2 comments:

Wilson said...

This is so true! I went through this when I battled infertility for three years...all of our friends were getting pregnant and while we were happy for them....we wondered if it would ever be our turn. However, when we truly turned things over to God and let HIM take care of things, we were blessed with a child.

Stacie said...

Cool blog! Your kids are so cute!