"I surrender all"
Scripture to follow:
1 Samuel 1:10-11
1 Peter 5:7
Think of the thing you desire most in life. Maybe it's something you already have. Maybe it's something you desire and are waiting for. Picture holding it in your hands- having it safely in your possession. Now imagine taking that cherished thing, placing in someone else’s hands and giving them complete authority over it. Unsettling, isn’t it? This is exactly what a true picture of trusting God with our heart’s greatest desires looks like. Trusting God is an obvious component of having a real relationship with Him, and most of us know, at least in a logical sense, our trust is something He is worthy of having. However, the reality is trusting becomes much more difficult when our heart is tied to what He is calling us to surrender. We are gifted a beautiful and oh so relatable picture of this as we dive deeper into studying Hannah' s heart in 1st Samuel.
In week one, we looked at the attributes of God through the name Hannah used to address Him. We were reminded He is the one who can intercede on our behalf and take the lead in our battles. This week I want to stay with verses 10-11, and this time focus on how Hannah presents herself to the Lord. There is a lot of power packed into those two verses.
The first thing we are shown in verse 10 is a clear picture of Hannah’s pain. We see her coming to God with total transparency, described as bitterness of the soul. Hannah’s desperation fueled by the prolonged unfulfillment of not having a child is glaringly evident. Often, I think we fear revealing the intensity of our desires to God, as if communicating their significance might deter Him from answering our prayers. I have been there. We carry an anxiousness that if we were a good enough christian we would be ok with God and nothing else. It's true, God does want to be our everything, but not so we can live void of desires and blessings. He created both of those things. He knows the desires of our heart and I truly believe He wants to give them to us. So what if God being everything mean He becomes the filter our desires first pass through before getting to us? What if it means He has the hands we trust to hold our desires, shape them, bring them into being, and even give them direction? It requires vulnerabilty to approach Him with such honesty and expectancy. Vulnerability is something that is equally praised and punished by human hands and if you have been met with rejection after showing your heart’s desires or fears here on earth, it can be difficult to let yourself go there again. But I’m here to encourage you, our Father is not this world. He can take it. All of your vulnerability, all of you pain, all of your longing, and all of your heart’s desires. He has the strength and space to hold it all and He will not punish you for it. This assurance echoes in His word: "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
In her prayer, we see Hannah take this step of trust. Through a vow to give her son to God all the days of his life, we see her place her greatest desire in His hands. (1 Samuel 1:11) She surrendered. Hannah turns over the thing she desired most in this world, the miracle her heart yearned for, and in doing so we see an example of pure faith. We can all relate to the urge to safeguard what we hold most dear, especially if we have patiently waited for it. We desire to shield it from harm, to not be separated from it. In Hannah's case, most mothers wouldn't entrust their child to another unless they believed those hands were the most capable in existence. Hannah desperately desired a child, yet she understood her paramount need was God Himself. She couldn't foresee God's plans, but she because she believed He was the only one who could bless her with this miracle, He was also more than capable of caring for her miracle in a way no one else could. Hannah’s surrender acknowledges God as not only powerful enough to bless us, but also equipped enough to care for the things He brings into existence. Perhaps the greatest help we can be in bringing forth our miracles is to not cling to them tightly, but to release them straight into God’s hands. So beloved, whether you are carrying a deep desire that has not yet been delivered, or you are carrying worry over a blessing that has already arrived, bring it to God. Bring it with your whole heart. Release it to Him today. Take the step of surrendering it into His hands, knowing He is more than equipped to do great things with your blessing.
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