-- Wednesday, 9/22/10 -- INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS -- 1 Samuel 1:6, 8, 13-14

[J.R. & Bonnie Ricks]

Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of

Dogwood Ministries, Inc.

If you need prayer… contact our partners in ministry…

 SJ Ministries - Ministry of Prayer

Or simply send your request to SJMini...@aol.com

All other requests, please see the end of the devotional

for Dogwood Ministries addresses

 

 

 

 

 

 

INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS -- 1 Samuel 1:6, 8, 13-14

 

And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 1 Samuel 1:6 NIV

 

Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"  1 Samuel 1:8 NIV

 

Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."  1 Samuel 1:13-14 NIV

 

The people around Hannah were a big help.  Peninnah, Elkanah's other wife, was a total pain in the neck, constantly making fun of Hannah for her barrenness.  She was jealous of Elkanah's love for Hannah, probably secretly wishing that Elkanah would exercise his option to divorce Hannah for her barrenness.  Her jealously manifested itself in her ridicule of Hannah. 

 

Then there was good old Elkanah.  He loved Hannah so much, he even gave her a double portion of the sacrificial meat – a great honor and a sign of his devotion to her.  He honestly couldn't understand her frustration, thinking she should be satisfied with just their relationship.

 

To top it off, Hannah even had problems with Eli – her priest.  Think of him here as the pastor of her church.  He totally misunderstood her motives, misread what was going on and accused her of showing up at church drunk! 

 

You would have thought that the three people closest to Hannah would have been her greatest supporters, right?  But they were not.  Instead, they just compounded her problem... because none of them looked at the situation with God's eternal eyes.  They looked at the outward circumstances and used their human logic to act.

 

Sadly that's just how it happens in the real world… even with Christians.  We look at our own circumstances and those of our friends with our limited understanding and act accordingly.  Sadly, when we are in the middle of a major problem, our closest Christian friends can become our biggest problem, giving us our biggest headaches.  Picture this.  Everything in your life starts falling apart.  You pray for guidance, and are doing exactly what God leads you to do through prayer and His word.  Suddenly, every Christian friend you have is in there criticizing you.  "You brought this on yourself!  The only reason this happened is because you didn't have enough faith!  Have more faith!"  "Obviously, there's some sin in your life that you have not confessed.  Get right with God!"  "You just don't know how to pray!"  "Do this!  You're not following the rules!”  “Get it right, and God will answer your prayer!"  And it gets worse before it gets better.

 

The point is... in the middle of her trial, Hannah turned to the source – God Almighty.  And she stuck by Him in spite of what everyone around her said. 

 

The same goes for you and me.  Walk down the path Jesus sets for you, and ignore the criticism that may come.  If what you are doing is in line with His word and His will, let Him be the one to guide you.  People make mistakes.  Jesus doesn't.

 

--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TakeAMinute" group.

To unsubscribe from this group, send email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line to J-R-and...@dogwoodministries.org 

For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute

General correspondence or to subscribe to Take a Minute: J-R-and...@dogwoodministries.org

Donations to Dogwood Ministries:  http://www.dogwoodministries.org

Personal correspondence to Bonnie Ricks:  bon...@dogwoodministries.org

Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j...@dogwoodministries.org

--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--