For Those Who Feel Forgotten In The Waiting
Does God see me? Does He care?
Hannah was a woman not unlike many of us. She found herself in a long season of waiting that seemed hopeless and unfair. As her waiting prolonged, her suffering deepened. In fact, her grief was so profound she wept and refused to eat. This was a despair no one could rescue her from, not even her husband. As if her suffering could become any more painful, she experienced ridicule and humiliation because of her situation.
Hannah could not conceive.
And it seemed like God had forgotten her.
I’m sure many of us have walked through seasons of waiting where we felt similarly to Hannah. Perhaps that’s the season you’re in right now.
You’re a new mom and life feels chaotic, lonely and overwhelming.
You’re single and wondering if marriage will happen for you.
You want to be a mom, but your fertility journey is not what you expected it to be.
You’re walking through a cancer diagnosis or a health condition where there are more questions than answers.
Whatever you’re waiting on and however deep your suffering may be, Hannah’s story is a lamppost in the dark for those of us who feel like God has forgotten us.
Here are some truths we learn from Hannah’s story.
1. Bring your honest, heartfelt requests to God.
What stands out to me in the story of Hannah is how brutally honest she is with God; she does not hold back or hide her pain and disappointment. In 1 Samuel 1:10 (HCSB), we read that Hannah went to the Lord in prayer “deeply hurt…and wept with many tears.” When Eli the priest questions Hannah, she replies by saying, “I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.” (v. 16)
Have you ever prayed from a place of pain, anguish, or resentment? I have.
This story is of someone whose heart is deeply broken. Hannah’s hurt and pain have left her depleted and at the end of herself, and yet she brings her emptiness to the Lord. She offers Him her nothing.
Perhaps one reason scripture includes this level of detail in Hannah’s story is to show us the kinds of prayers we can bring before God. He does not rebuke us for bringing Him our hearts. As we will see next, Hannah’s honesty did not prevent her from receiving an answer from the Lord.
2. In our waiting, God does not forget us.
While we don’t know how long Hannah had been trying to conceive it’s likely she had been waiting for years for her prayers to be answered. In the opening verses of 1 Samuel 1 we learn that her husband, Elkanah, had two wives and that the other wife, Peninnah, already had children while Hannah had none. Not only was she childless but Peninnah made it a point to mock Hannah for her condition.
“Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the LORD had kept Hannah from conceiving. Whenever she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival taunted her every year.” (First Samuel 1:6-7, HCSB)
Not only did Hannah experience grief over not being a mother but shame.
To me, that sounds like a recipe for hopelessness; and a lack of hope translates to a kind of death. The death of a dream. The death of a vision. A coming to the end of yourself.
As the story unfolds, we see that the LORD does in fact hear Hannah’s prayers and remembers her (1 Samuel 1:19, 1 Samuel 2:21, HCSB). God blesses her and she conceives and gives birth to Samuel, whom she gives back in service to the LORD and who becomes Israel’s final judge. After Samuel, Hannah goes on to birth several more children.
Hannah’s story shows us that God has not forgotten us even in the midst of our waiting and that he does hear our prayers. It’s often in these moments though that it’s the hardest to believe this. When our pain is so deep and when circumstances are out of our control, it’s easy to think, “God where are you? Do you see me right now? Do you care?”
Through Hannah’s story we see that God says: yes.
Yes, I see you.
Yes, I care.
Yes, I am with you.
If you’re in a season of waiting on the Lord and you’re feeling hopeless and discouraged, I understand. I have been through many waiting seasons of my own and find myself there now. More recently, I’ve felt a deep sadness and grief over my waiting and have been wrestling with the Lord to make sense of it and respond in faith. In many ways, it doesn’t feel like God sees me.
In reflecting on the story of Hannah, I realize this message is meant for me. I pray it is for you too.
