“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.” (1 Sam 1:10)
Where do you go when you have an unfulfilled desire? If we are honest, I think we can identify many places we run to try and fill the void. We may run to a friend, try to fill our desire our own way, or even dull the hurt by involvement in less than godly activity. A heart bent on a desire will find itself doing many things that it may not otherwise do. A heart seeking the Lord, however, will find its fulfillment in Him, whether the initial desire is met or not.
Hannah went to the Lord with her unmet desire and resulting hurt. She wept bitterly to him in light of wanting a child of her own. Her record reveals a few things about her character. First, she didn’t complain about the mistreatment of her ridiculing counterpart or express any jealousy toward Peninnah herself, even though the opposite was her own experience. She never retaliated or took the matter into her own hands. Second, she went to the one she already worshiped with her desire. Hannah vowed to the Lord to pledge the very thing she was asking for right back to Him which unveiled the pre existing commitment of her life to him.
Our hearts want what they long for. When we long for God first, the gifts he chooses to bestow on us are recognized as his and offered right back up in thanksgiving and often for his service.
Thank you, Lord, for what you grant and what you don’t. Help us worship you in it all, the desires fulfilled and the ones yet unmet.
