Speaker 1: 0:00

So, once again, may the force be with you and all of you who have a liturgical church background would say and also with you. It's my pleasure to be here this morning. I was given a topic to speak on and God has really pressed into me as I prepared for today, so I'm hoping that his words will come through me and speak to you as well. I'm hoping that his words will come through me and speak to you as well. To begin, can you think what might be the most disobeyed verse in the Bible? I know there's probably a lot of contenders. We might even have a little argument about what it could be, but this verse is something that you see all the time. Some of you probably have a sign on the wall of your house. Maybe a coffee mug, or maybe even now I know Jacob wouldn't undress in front of you last week, but I will partially. Maybe a t-shirt, yes, maybe a t-shirt. Yes. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. The entire verse tells us trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him or acknowledge him, and he will set your path straight. Now look at those parts of this verse Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. It's not an either or it's a both. And that means into and in all your ways, submit to him and he will make your path straight. It's's causation. One thing leads to the next.

Speaker 1: 1:49

One thing I love about this verse is every time I see it I have a little song in my head, because I did work with kids well, a few years back in the 90s. But I always remember the memory verse song that we taught to the kids. So I get to share with you now because it's in my head already Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. But seriously, we see this verse all the time. Right, it's on our walls, it's on our shirts, it's on our coffee mugs. We talk about it, but why don't we follow it? Why don't we put our trust in God completely? It's hard, right, I know it's hard.

Speaker 1: 2:47

It's easy to worry about stuff. I know because I'm an expert here. I'm not an expert at trust. I wish I was. I'm an expert at worry. I'm an expert at holding on, to stress. To be totally transparent here, it's only been a few weeks since the last time I asked for prayer for physical relief from the impacts of carrying stress. Now you may say what does he have to worry about? You know, like Nick said, I don't look a day over 29,. You know my slim figure, my full head of hair, my flawless skin, but in actuality I'm getting close to retirement and according to all the experts, I'm not ready. But what do the experts know? Right? They probably don't know my situation. Maybe I don't need to listen to them.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Another thing I worry about a lot is my wife's health. For those of you who don't know, 22 years ago when I first met her, she had just had a major rollerblading accident and blew out two discs in the back of her neck. Now, during those first couple months of us meeting and courting, she went through surgery recovery. I had to take care of her. Yet we're still here, 22 plus years later. I guess that would make me a keeper, right?

Speaker 1: 4:26

You know there are many places in the Bible where God tells us not to worry. I mean, many of us are familiar with the two words fear not. Well, we know a lot of times that's because God made a direct impression on somebody and they were afraid because there was an angel or something else happening or a miracle in front of them. But he also told us not to fear from the things in our lives. There are so many other verses that tell us not to worry as well. One of the best known ones comes from Matthew where we will eat or what we will wear, because God takes care of even the birds. But yet we still do it. We still hold on to things, we internalize them, we think that only we can fix them or, even worse, we think maybe God will fix them, but we have to give him a plan B. So we set things up a certain way so that God might be able to take care of something for us.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Now we're going to look at one story where somebody did choose to trust God. It's the story of Hannah, and it comes from the book of 1 Samuel. Comes from the book of 1 Samuel. Now, historically, the book of 1 Samuel was very early in Judaism. It was not long after the miracles of Moses and everything that the people went through. But it still was not easy for people to trust in God. But Hannah did.

Speaker 1: 6:14

The Bible tells us, as background here, that Elkanah had two wives. Now, elkanah was a righteous man. He took his family to the tabernacle to worship and sacrifice every year, as was appropriate for the times. Now you might say, why did he have two wives? Well, at the time it was very common that in the case that a man married and the wife could not give him children, that he would marry another. Why was that? Well, at the time it was believed that a woman's only value to society was to give children to the family, to continue the line, so to speak. But O'Conah did have two wives and we can surmise that since he married Hannah first, hannah was the one that he loved. In fact, the scripture even tells us this, that he loved her. And when they went to worship and sacrifice, he gave Hannah a double portion of the meats and the other items that they had brought to sacrifice, compared to his other wife and her children. Now, I did fail to mention Elkanah's second wife is named Peninnah, so we'll talk about both of them as we go.

Speaker 1: 7:41

Now, as you can imagine, because of the belief at the time, the societal belief of the value of women, when they went to sacrifice, peninnah would taunt Hannah. She would remind her constantly that you have no children and I do. Nah, nah, nah, nah. And this happened year after year after year. Scripture tells us this that it was the same year after year that Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the tabernacle. Hannah would respond in tears and wouldn't even eat.

Speaker 1: 8:21

But what's important here? That even in the midst of trial, when Hannah was at a low point, dealing with her internalized shame and dealing with the taunting of her for lack of a better term sister wife, that she decided to trust God. And let's look at why. Well, there's a bunch of things going on here. First, we know that when Hannah was refusing to eat, when she was in tears, she was silent. That her husband, elkanah, decided to try to make things better. Now, elkanah was not the smartest guy in this case. He went to her saying why are you crying? Why aren't you eating? Why are you so downhearted Just because you don't have kids? You have me right. I'm worth 10 sons. I'm paraphrasing, of course. Well, actually I'm not. I'm worth ten sons? I'm paraphrasing, of course. Well, actually I'm not.

Speaker 1: 9:35

But we know that wasn't going to assuage that internal pain or Hannah's reaction to the taunting she received. So when Hannah went to the tabernacle, she went to pray after the sacrificial meal and she prayed in great anguish. The verse tells us, in verse 10, that Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Now, right before that, it tells us that the priest, eli, was sitting at his place next to the entrance of the tabernacle. Now we may wonder why Eli is important here. Well, we're not going to see it on the screen, but scripture does tell us that as Hannah was praying, Eli didn't hear her voice. He just heard her mumbling and making odd sounds, as he thought he actually accused her of being drunk, but she replied to him that she was simply praying in great anguish from her heart. She was seeking the Lord in her mind and heart, without words. This is something that's available to all of us. And she was crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Her words included a Lord of heaven's armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. Wow, bargaining with God. Anybody else ever do that? God, if you give me a great blessing, I'll give more back right? Well, when Hannah was done praying, did anything change? Well, before I go that far, let's talk about Eli. Another second. When Hannah was done, eli agreed with her in prayer. Even though he didn't hear it, he knew of her great anguish, he knew of the desire of her heart and he essentially said may God grant your prayer, hannah.

Speaker 1: 12:03

At this point, not sure if it was because of her communion with the Lord or because of the words of Eli, she suddenly stopped crying. She returned to the family's camp and began to eat. But did anything really change? Did she have a child? No, what was she doing? Why was she no longer downtrodden? Why was she now willing to eat, willing to participate in the social activities with the rest of the family? Simply because she trusted God.

Speaker 1: 12:44

She decided ahead of time that God is faithful. Why did she do that? Maybe because Eli agreed with her? That was probably a component. But there was also the opportunity to look back over all the other times that God had acted before All the miracles, all the times that God made had acted before all the miracles, all the times that God made a way when there was no way, because God was faithful before she could trust him to be faithful in the future. She pre-decided to trust God. As I mentioned before, trust doesn't grow in good times. It grows in the trials.

Speaker 1: 13:49

But scripture goes on to tell us that after Hannah's prayer, after she stopped crying and began to eat again, the family went back to worship one more time. This is essential for us in that when we have that communion with God, when we lay out all of our burdens, when we decide to trust God with everything, that we're worried about everything that's happening around us, our fears about ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, whatever it may be, that we go back and say God, you are who you are, that we worship before him and acknowledge that we trust him to be faithful because he has been before. So scripture tells us later that, later on, when Elkanah slept with Hannah, that she conceived of a son and she named him Samuel. She named him Samuel because the name Samuel means heard by God. She acknowledged that God had heard her prayers and thus she was no longer shamed in the society in which she lived. She was now made whole. It was a tremendous feeling for her. Yes, she followed through on the pact she made with God and prepared to give her son back. And prepared to give her son back. Now. Samuel, as many of you know, was a tremendous prophet. He was the one who actually started the era of kings in Judaism. He was a priest that had a tremendous impact. Scripture went on to tell us that, after Samuel was weaned, that Hannah did return to the place of sacrifice. She didn't go for a couple of years with the rest of the family because she stayed back with Samuel, but after he was able to be without his mother, she took him to Eli and turned him over to the Lord in the Lord's service him over to the Lord in the Lord's service. She followed up on the pact. She made Hannah trusted and all was given to her.

Speaker 1: 17:05

You know, there's a lot of things that happen in our lives and, like I said earlier, sometimes we internalize, we think that only we can solve something, or we set up that plan B. God nudged me in an area while I was preparing for this message. For the last five, six, seven years I can't really tell you exactly I have been a regular lottery player, not a lot. I had one game on the big games whatever they are Powerball and something on a lot. I had one game on the big games whatever they are, powerball and something on a subscription. So it just happened, week after week after week, and I realized, when God nudged me, that this was a place that I was setting up a plan B, that I didn't trust God to be able to bless me financially, apart from me making a plan for him to be able to do so. I've since shut that off. I have since shut that off and decided to trust God with my finances. He doesn't need me to make a way for him. If he wants to do something tremendous, if he wants to drop the proverbial big bag of money out of the sky, he's going to do it right. That's where I'm walking. Now.

Speaker 1: 18:30

Let's go back for a moment to the role of Eli. I mentioned how, when Hannah prayed, when Hannah was in deep anguish before the Lord, so that again, eli thought she was drunk, but she laid out her soul, she laid out her concerns, she laid out her worries. Anybody ever done that? There's been a time when you've been mad at God, perhaps, and said God, this is what's going on. I don't know what to do. I know you're the only one who can handle it.

Speaker 1: 19:12

We were told in one of our worship songs today that we fight on our knees, right? That's the way we're supposed to do it. We're supposed to go before the Lord and lay our burdens before him. But then comes that role of Eli again. He agreed with Hannah. He said may the Lord answer your prayer. How do you think that happens today? We don't have anointed priests anymore. We no longer follow the line of Levi. Well, we're in a better situation, and that's because the Holy Spirit is here now. The Holy Spirit is here since Christ came more than 2,000 years ago, and the future of the heavens, the future age, broke in to the current age. And when Jesus left, what did he do? He sent a helper. That helper enables all of us to agree with one another in prayer. Yes, eli was an appointed priest, but I don't necessarily believe that he had any special power to grant a request. He simply went before the Lord on Hannah's behalf and said I agree with what she has asked for. Lord, if it be your will, please grant this to her, and we can now do that for each other.

Speaker 1: 20:55

I'm sure many of you are thinking about things at this point that you worry about, things that you hold on to, that you haven't turned over to the Lord. I would hope that he is speaking to you right now and saying trust me with that. Trust me with that loved one who's ill. Trust me with your finances. Trust me with that loved one who's ill. Trust me with your finances. Trust me with finding a new job. These are all things that I know are going on just amongst those of you who are here today. Trust me with your health, if necessary.

Speaker 1: 21:35

Yesterday, my wife and I were working around the house and doing chores and we had the Christian music stream on in the background and it was so noticeable that it seemed that every other song was about not worrying and trusting. Every other song was about not worrying and trusting. One that really jumped out to me was a song by the Afters called Fear no More. Key lyrics in the song say I will trust in you. I will fear no more. I will hear your voice. When we trust, not only are we potentially granted what we trust God with, but we can let go of fear and better enable ourselves to hear his voice. This is my hope for all of us, you and me, as we go forward. Go ahead and bow your heads as I pray to close.

Speaker 1: 22:50

Lord, you've shown us so many areas that each of us needs to trust you more, and we turn those all over to you. Today, lord. We turn them over collectively, we turn them over as one body in you, and we all choose to agree, on behalf of each other's worries, fears and concerns, that you will handle them. Lord, we seek to hear your voice. We know that you are a way maker, that you find a way where there is no way. We know that you can move mountains, lord. We know that you provide that light in the darkness and that it's simply up to us to come before you and lay things down. Lord, I pray that you go forth with each one of us today, encouraging us to continue to lay our burdens at your feet, that you encourage us to share our burdens with one another so that we can continue to agree. I ask all these things in your name, lord, amen.