IT is the first time I\u2019ve described a character in the Bible as a \u201chappy mother\u201d: Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. I used to think of Hannah as a woman who was wronged, an infertile woman, an unhappy wife. Many are familiar with Hannah\u2019s story, of how she prayed to God, and how God answered her prayers, allowing her to become pregnant with a son, and later how she brought her son back to God\u2019s temple and left him there to learn to serve God from a young age.<\/p>\n
I always had this mistaken belief that when Hannah brought little Samuel to the priest Eli, she was very reluctant and sad. I had these thoughts because I too am a mother, and I projected my feelings into her story. I could not imagine that I have to give up my precious child at their young age to someone else. But when I read Hannah\u2019s prayer carefully over and over again, I began to have a different understanding.<\/p>\n
Hannah says this: \u201cMy heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.\u201d (1 Samuel 2:1) Who could pour forth such a prayer? Only the victorious! Hannah was full of triumph, like one who had defeated all her enemies, and now was able to lift her head high with pride. This was indeed very different from what I had imagined Hannah to be.<\/p>\n
I think the key is that Hannah knew all she had was in God\u2019s hands. In her suffering, she called out to God and made a vow to God. When God answered her prayers, she naturally fulfilled all her vows. There was nothing to be ashamed of anymore, nor could her rival attack her. Before God no one could criticize her any longer, for she had done when she had vowed.<\/p>\n
Hannah was a mother freed from bondage. How can this kind of mother not be happy?<\/p>\n
By Winnie Chan, <\/span> IT is the first time I\u2019ve described a character in the Bible as a \u201chappy mother\u201d: Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. I used to think of Hannah as a woman who was wronged, an infertile woman, an unhappy wife. Many are familiar with Hannah\u2019s story, of how she prayed to God, and how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[183,188,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nLay Preacher of Wesley Methodist Church, Sibu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"