Faith and Faithfulness for paper Apr 25
Faith and Faithfulness for paper Apr 25
Hanna is a woman whose account is recorded in 1 Samuel 1. She is barren and desperately wants a son. She is ostracized by society for being barren and is taunted by her husband, Elkanah’s second wife, who has children. She tearfully and earnestly prays in the temple to God for a son, promising to give the child to the Lord if he answers her prayer. When her priest added insult to injury by accusing her of being drunk, she confessed what actually caused the tears. When he spoke a word of blessing, she received it as a word from God. She left that day believing the Lord’s face was shining on her and that he would be gracious to her. In the midst of her inner battles, she found peace at the Lord’s house.
Hannah is an example of faith and faithfulness. When we trust God’s promises and manage to do his will when we’re being pulled in different directions by our sinful flesh, that’s what it means to be faithful.
In all these things Hannah is a role model. But the greatest test of her faith was when she kept her vow. Promises are easy to make but often hard to keep. Despite whatever desires and emotions were pulling her in the other direction, when the time came, Hannah gathered up a bull to sacrifice and some flour and wine as an offering, took the hand of the answer to her prayer—her son Samuel—and headed up the road to the Lord’s house. Hard as it was, she kept her vow. She let go of his little hand and trusted the Lord to care for him and protect him and use him for a great purpose.
Through Hannah, God poured out blessings on all his people. Her son Samuel grew to become a faithful priest, a fair judge, and a true prophet who would call people to repentance and faith. Even more, God used Samuel to institute the eternal kingdom of David, through whom God would provide us a Prophet, Priest, and King.
That’s the way God worked in the Old Testament. In the darkest of times, there was always a faithful remnant of believers. Hannah is but one link in a long chain that stretches all the way back to Eve and all the way forward to Mary. Samuel grew to be a priest, judge, and a true prophet who would anoint David as king over the people. And from David came the Son of David, the Son of Mary, the Son of God. See how God used Hannah’s faith and faithfulness for her son to provide for all people through His Son.
After Adam and Eve allowed sin to corrupt God’s perfect creation, God vowed that from the womb of a woman a son would be born who would undo all the damage they caused. As Hannah gave her little boy to live in God’s house, God gave his eternal Son to dwell in human flesh. God kept his vow when his innocent Lamb of God was slaughtered by sinful men and his precious blood fell on the cursed ground. By his death, the sins of the world are taken away; by his resurrection, the gates to paradise are open to all who believe.
When you were baptized into the death of Christ, God forgave your sins, covered your sinful flesh with the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and lit the spark of faith in your heart by the Holy Spirit. Faith receives the precious gifts of God. Faith says, “God kept his promise to me. Jesus died and rose for me. The gate to paradise is now open to me.”
God still provides for others through his people. The need is great, even greater today than in Hannah’s day. The world is just as dark, but the need is more urgent. We are that much closer to the Day of Judgment. The world desperately needs people of faith to be faithful.
When we bring our burdens to God’s house, when pastors speak the words God has given, when children are brought to be baptized, when parents and sponsors keep their vow to pray for them and raise them in the faith, when we remember our sin and the awful price God paid to forgive us, when our faith is nourished by the fruits of the cross, when we go out into the world and let the light within us shine by turning the other cheek and explaining the hope within us, when we pray for all people according to their needs, when we support the work of the church with our offerings, then, like Hannah, we are being faithful. None of those things will save you or make you worthy to live in God’s house—Jesus did that—but God does use them to bless all people through you.
When you are faithful, you become one link in a long chain that stretches from the cross to God’s eternal paradise. The need is greater today than in Hannah’s day. It is every bit as dark in the world, but today we are closer to the Day of Judgment. God still provides for all through faithful people.
Being faithful in the world is hard. It’s easy for me to say, but it is hard to do. We are saints and sinners at the same time, so our minds are a constant battleground of conflicting desires and emotions—pulling us away from where God leads. It’s also expensive. Jesus warned it might cost you everything you love in this world. All of this is true. But faith says, “The need is great! Do it anyway!” … It is hard to be faithful. Very few worthwhile things are easy.
Blessings