(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Let me just start by saying thank you to Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to come preach here for you all on this Mother's Day and Happy Mother's Day, obviously. I also want to say, where's Brother Tanner? There he is. Hey, Brother Tanner, great job on the pronunciation of my last name. That was awesome. I go to the DMV and they're like, Ben name, can you please come up? And it's like, where'd you get named from? But anyway, let's start there in 1 Samuel chapter 1. Is he giving me just a minute here to clip this on? So we can get started. 1 Samuel chapter 1, you're there. Notice what it says in verse number 1. The Bible reads, Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, say that three times fast, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zaph, and Ephrathite. And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Paninah, and Paninah had children, and Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Paninah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions. So we have a man of Ramathaim-zophim, and his name is Elkanah, the Bible says he's the son of Jeroham, and he has two wives, Hannah and Paninah. Now you have to understand, and I wanted to settle this point here to start, that there's a difference between prescriptive and descriptive Bible passages. Prescriptive Bible passages explain what you ought to do, and descriptive Bible passages explain what is happening. And what's happening here is that Elkanah has two wives. Does that mean we should have multiple wives? No. And I wanted to settle that first. The Bible expressly commands the kings of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 17, neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. Jesus Christ also made this very clear that marriage is supposed to be between one man and one woman, and he said in Mark 10, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. So then they are no more twain, but one flesh. Two become one under the God-ordained institution of marriage. However, there were those in the Old Testament who practiced polygamy, and Elkanah was one of them. He had two wives. The Bible says he loved Hannah, and as a result, that led to some problems for her, because Peninnah got envious of that, and we'll read about it here in a few moments. Elkanah, the Bible says, went once a year to worship God, and as I said, with regard to these two wives, what we're going to focus on for the purpose of this sermon is one of his two wives, and her name is Hannah. The title of the sermon this morning is Lessons from the Life of Hannah. And the first thing we know about Hannah is that she struggled with infertility. The Bible says so in verse number five. Look down at verse number five. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb. So the Bible says here that Elkanah gave a portion of the offering. Hannah received more. Hannah was his favorite wife. And as I said, that led to some issues in her life, because Elkanah, I'm sorry, Peninnah got envious of that, and she ends up provoking Hannah. She ends up basically kicking her while she's down. The Bible says that the Lord had shut up her womb here, and this is a sensitive topic, but what we do know about children, what we do know about pregnancy is that it's providential. Bearing fruit physically is providential. God is the one who opens and closes the womb. And I want to go through a flurry of scriptures proving this. Go to Genesis chapter 20, if you would, Genesis chapter 20. You might be asking, hey, how many kids are you going to have? As many as God gives me. It's that simple. As many as God gives me, because that's an area of our lives that we leave to him. We let him take care of that. It's not our job, but of course there are people today, most of the people out in the world who believe that it's their job to limit the number of children that they have, and they do this through several different means. I'm not going to go through them here. We're not going to go through a science course this morning, but biology, whatever. But they limit it in certain ways, and that's not something that we should be doing, but instead we should rely on the Lord to give us as many children as he would have us to end up bearing. In Genesis 20, look down at verse 17, and notice what it says there. So Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, and they bared children, for the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. So basically the context here, what's going on is that Abraham, he had sojourned in Gerar, and he makes it appear as if Sarah is simply just his sister. Abimelech, as a result, takes Sarah, and because of that, God informs him that, in fact, Sarah is Abraham's wife. What happens then? Abraham explains, hey, I thought that you would kill me for her. That's why I said that. And while Sarah was with Abimelech, all the wombs of his house were closed up. All the wombs of his house were shut. Again, God's the one who opens and closes the womb, and we see that at times he does this, because of a curse, and that's what happened here. We also read in Hosea 9, give them, O Lord, what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them. For the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of mine house. I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters. So sometimes God closes up the womb as a curse, but I want you to listen very carefully and not take what I'm saying out of context. It's not always a curse. In fact, there are times where couples are righteous, where they're serving God, where they're going to church, where they're going out soul winning, when they're living for the Lord, and yet they haven't been blessed with children yet. They're not cursed in that scenario. And I want to show you an example. Go to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. Again, we have to just rely on God in this area of our lives. Hannah was not under a curse just because she wasn't having children. And in Luke chapter 1, we see a couple that certainly were not under a curse. They were righteous. Verse number 5, Luke chapter 1, and look at verse number 5. The Bible says there, there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the son of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. Well there you go. The Bible's clear. Yet, look at the next verse, and they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years. Obviously, Elizabeth eventually does have a child, but up to this point had been barren. Does that mean that she was cursed by God? Does that mean that she was doing something wrong necessarily? No. Don't have that attitude. Don't be Job's friends looking down at women who don't have children and pointing fingers at them and trying to make them feel as if they're not righteous or they're somehow in the flesh. False. The Bible doesn't teach that that's always the case. Why does God allow this? That's a question I can't answer. Why does God allow this? Why is it that this happens at times? All I can say is this. He's outside of time. He sees the end from the beginning. He sees the end from the beginning. Go to 2 Kings chapter 4, 2 Kings chapter 4. Bible reads in Genesis 25, and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. Isaac entreats the Lord here and his wife conceives. It can happen. It can happen where you entreat the Lord, where you ask God to open up the womb of your wife and it occurs. I want to show you another example of a barren woman, this Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4. She perceives that Elisha is a man of God. She prepares a chamber for him and Gehazi ends up figuring out that she doesn't have any children, that she had been barren. Look what happens next. 2 Kings 4, look at verse 12, and he says to Gehazi, his servant, call this Shunammite and what he had called her, she stood before him and he said unto him, say now unto her, behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is it to be done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king or to be the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, what then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, verily she hath no child and her husband is old, like Abraham and Sarah. Verse 15, and he said, call her, and when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, about this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. Thy Lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaids. So Gehazi finds out she has no child and the man of God ends up communicating to her, hey, listen, you're going to have a child. You might not think that you will. You might not necessarily have that faith. You might have gone through life not having any children, but it's going to happen. The woman is told you're going to have a son and notice she thinks it's impossible. And there are cases like this where women who've been barren believe it's impossible. Second Kings 4, look at verse 17, and the woman conceived and bare a son at that season that Elisha had sent unto her, according to the time of life. She conceived, God gave her a child. We have to yield ourselves to his will. He determines whether we'll have children. And this is a sensitive issue, but it's a part of Hannah's life, so I had to cover it. But even when it seems like children will never come, you just never know. And I'll be frank with you, it's not fun to receive a medical diagnosis, and my wife and I have experience with this. It's not fun to receive a medical diagnosis that says your wife is more likely to experience or has a more pronounced chance of miscarriage. That's not fun. You don't like hearing that. But the thing is, the Bible says in Luke chapter 1 verse 37, for with God, nothing shall be impossible. And yeah, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow morning, I don't know what's going to happen a week from now, I don't know what's going to happen a month from now, I don't know what's going to happen between now and her due date, which is September, but I can tell you this, that with God, all things are possible. So even if some medical doctor tells you, you know what, it's unlikely, even if they tell you it's impossible, well the Bible tells me that with God, nothing shall be impossible. The first lesson I want you to learn from Hannah's life is that God opens and closes the womb. On this Mother's Day, I would ask that all of you pray for women who are going through what Hannah went through to start this chapter. You pray for them. You love on them. You love on them. You think about them. You care for them. You keep them in your thoughts. You be kind unto them. They may be struggling. Hannah was struggling. Hannah was upset about her predicament, and an adversary made it worse for her, didn't lift her up, didn't love on her, didn't try to be a blessing under her, Hannah endured adversity. Look at verse 6. 1 Samuel 1, verse 6, and her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb, and as he did so year by year, when she went to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat. Peninnah did something despicable. She kicks Hannah while she's down, knowing that she's barren, knowing that she doesn't have any children, and she pours salt in the wound here and provokes her and taunts her because of that. Hey, let's not be like Peninnah. Don't be this idiot making people feel worse when they're going through adversity like this. Don't be affliction like this. Be a catalyst to help lift them up. Be a blessing unto people. Peninnah though provoked Hannah. This was classless right here. Again taunts her. Hannah was so upset that she begins to weep, tears coming out of her eyes. She doesn't eat. Peninnah though, as I alluded to a few minutes ago, envious of Elkanah's love for Hannah, and so she provokes her. Why? Because of who she is. That's what was going on here. Peninnah provoked Hannah because of who she is. And there are going to be people in your lives, especially ladies, who are living a sanctified life, who come to a church that believes the Bible, who live a separate life from the world. There are going to be people, there are going to be Peninnahs in your life who are going to mock and who are going to scoff and who are going to laugh because of who you are. And I'm not too sure as Peninnah did that to Hannah because of who she is. If you're not out there dressing like a whore, if you're dressed in skirts and dresses like a woman, if you're a meek and quiet spirit, then what I want you to understand is expect ridicule. Expect the Peninnahs in your life to try and make you feel worse than you are. Because here's the thing, if you're living that way, God's blessing you. But they want to make you feel like you're cursed. They want to make you feel like you're weird. They want to make you feel like you're some anti-social alien or something like that because they're envious of the happiness that you have in the Lord. And Peninnah was envious, we know that for sure. What's their goal? What's the goal of the Peninnahs of our lives? The Peninnahs in your life. Their goal is to discourage you. Their goal is just simply one word, demoralization. That's their goal. Demoralization. That's their end game to be a stumbling block in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse number 8. And so Elkanah, her husband too, or Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? And not I better to thee than ten sons? This is not a very good response from Elkanah right here. And I know I haven't been married too long, but I think even if you've been married one day, this piece of advice would be a smart one. When your wife's upset about something, don't just tell her to get over it, all right? That's not going to work. If she's sad about something, how about you try and make her feel better rather than just go, get over it. Come on, aren't I better than ten sons? What an egotistical thing to say. He's just like, get over it. What's the big deal? Peninnah was Hannah's adversary. And we have an adversary too. The Bible says so in 1 Peter 5 where it says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The devil is our adversary. The devil wants to provoke. The devil wants to attack. The devil wants to seek and destroy you, the Bible-believing Christian, just as Peninnah essentially wanted to figuratively destroy Hannah because of who she was. The devil wants to destroy your flesh, and the way he's going to do that is by tempting you to drown in sin, tempting you to be a struggling, backslidden Christian who's essentially knocked out because of all the sin in your life. That's what he wants from you. And when you yield to that and you leave, if you were to leave this church and be a do-nothing Christian and produce no fruit, from a spiritual standpoint, you'll be giving Satan exactly what he wants. Go to 1 Thessalonians 3, if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. And specifically, the devil, we know, wants to destroy women. The devil wants to destroy both men and women, but I believe that he has a specialized attack against females. He has a specialized attack against women. And we're seeing that pronounced today. We're seeing that it's so clear today in today's culture that the devil is attacking women specifically. He wants to destroy them. And if you want proof of that, just take a look at these George Soros-funded women's marches that take place every year in which a bunch of crazy, mentally unstable women are running around screaming about how badly they want to murder their own children. That is proof positive right there that there's a very real attack going on against women. Look at 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 5. The Bible says, For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain. The tempter is the devil. You can read Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 through 3 for a proof text on that. But Satan would love for you to just totally drop out of church, like I said, and especially for women to stop bearing fruit physically, to stop being a meek and quiet spirit, to stop being the, or I should say, striving for the Proverbs 31 standard. That's what he would like for you to do. He would love for you as well to get disgruntled about something really petty and stupid and drop out of steadfast OKC. He would love that. But you know what? Would to God that Pastor Shelley, just like we see here with the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, would to God that Pastor Shelley, that he could check on steadfast OKC periodically, as Paul did with the church at Thessalonica, to know your faith, to see what's going on here, to see godly women serving the Lord, to see godly men serving the Lord, so that he could see your faith and see a congregation that has resisted the temptation of the devil, your adversary, the devil. I hope that Pastor Shelley can check in periodically to steadfast OKC and see that you have resisted the temptation of the peninas in your life. That's what I hope that he could see, trucking forward and continuing to be the embodiment of that word steadfast. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 1, 1 Samuel chapter 1. Another lesson we could learn from Hannah's life is don't allow the peninas of your life to discourage you. That's what they want to do, discourage and demoralize and damage your spiritual life and be a hindrance to your spiritual life. The peninas of your life, they're like sharks that smell blood in the water. And when they see you in your weakest state, like Hannah was, weak and upset and depressed, that's when they're going to pounce. So you've got to be careful. Be aware of these people. In Psalm 109, it says, let mine adversaries be clothed with shame and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a mantle. There's a biblical precedent for you to be able to pray for God to take care of your adversaries. God will take care of them. You can take comfort in that, that God will take care of the peninas of your life. And Hannah herself understood this. It says, you don't have to turn there, but in 1 Samuel 2, 10, she says this in her prayer, which is an awesome prayer, by the way, I would recommend that you guys read it in your free time. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces out of heaven, shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. There's a picture of Jesus there, but also she understood this concept that the adversaries of the Lord are going to be broken one day, that God's going to take care of them. So if you are living a life right now where you're dealing with an adversary, where you're dealing with somebody, I don't care who it is, a mother, a father, it is Mother's Day, so we're known to disparage mothers, but if you have family members or friends or anything like that, people who are close to you within your social circle, that sphere of influence that you have that are trying to discourage you and block you and attack you and provoke you right now as you truck along in your Christian life, then all I can say is this, let God take care of it. Because at the end of the day, he will deal with the adversaries in your life. So take comfort in that. The third thing we can know about Hannah is that Hannah called on God during this time of bitterness that she went through. Look at 1 Samuel 1 verse 9. The Bible says, So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. Hannah wept sore. She was in bitterness. She was upset. She was depressed. You can argue this was her lowest point right here. And think about this. Think of everything she's going through at this time. She's barren. Penina is rubbing it in her face. Her husband isn't being very reassuring either, just telling her basically to get over it. I'm better than those sons you want anyway is what he's saying. All she wants though is to be a mother. That's it. That's all she wants. But here's what I want you to understand. Who does Hannah turn to during this time? Does she turn to drugs? Does she turn to alcohol? Does she turn to sin, whoredom, worldliness? No. You know who she turns to? She turns to God. And we as men, I have to remember this on Mother's Day, if we want to ensure that there are more mothers out there in the future living a godly life, having godly children, we need to take the responsibility as men to try and mitigate the attack of the devil emanating from the devil on women today. Because women who are going through what Hannah went through here, if they don't have the Lord Jesus Christ in their life, they don't end up turning to God. They end up turning to wickedness. A lot of them end up just selling their bodies. A lot of them end up getting addicted to psychotropics and different kinds of drugs and alcohol. And the thing that you have to realize is this. The world, we can't rely on it to help these women. We can't. Because the world has already failed these women. The world has failed women. Many of them are broken. They don't know where to go. And so they end up addicted to those sins I had just mentioned. They thought that perhaps the clubs and they thought the bars might be able to drown their sorrows away. They thought feminism would drown their sorrows away. They thought mindless, stupid entertainment would drown their sorrows away. But what we have to be focused on as men is helping these women who are going through what Hannah went through here to instead of turning to all that garbage, rather turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He can help. He can fill that void. There's an article here, it says, this is from the Guardian, it says gains in women's rights haven't made women happier. Why is that? Since the 70s, women in the U.S. and Europe have reported feeling less satisfied with their lives. But while women are living longer, it's unclear whether their well-being is showing comparable strides as women gain political, economic, and social freedoms. One would expect that they should feel more contented relative to men, but this isn't so. I wonder why. Maybe it's because God's way is always better. The paradox of declining female happiness was pointed out by economists Beth C. Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, who also happen to share a house and kids. They analyzed the happiness trends of U.S. citizens between 1970 and 2005 and found a surprising result. Surprising to them. Not to anybody who actually has read the Bible once. Stevenson and Wolfers discovered that American women rated their overall life satisfaction higher than men in the 1970s. Thereafter, women's happiness scores decreased while men's scores stayed roughly stable. By the 1990s, women were less happy than men. Well maybe it's because no-fault divorce didn't exactly help make them feel happier, did it? Maybe it's because women in the workforce didn't exactly help them feel happier. Maybe it's because birth control wasn't helping fill that void that women had in their lives. Women who had been running away from God. Maybe that isn't working. And maybe a biblical prescription actually will work. You see, women inherently, they don't want to be men. They want to be women, naturally. They want to be women. They want to be feminine. They want to serve their husband. They want to guide the house. Hannah wasn't in distress because she was failing at her war against the patriarchy. She wasn't upset because she didn't have enough, quote, women's rights. She was upset because she wanted to raise a godly child. She wanted to be a mother, and in her distress, instead of turning to drugs and alcohol and sin and wickedness, what we noticed is that she turned to God in prayer, and she literally pours everything out onto him. Go to Psalm 119, Psalm 119, and look at verse 71 when you get there, Psalm 119, verse 71. Meanwhile I'll read from Ecclesiastes 7, go to Psalm 119, meanwhile Ecclesiastes 7 says, sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better. Did you know that sorrow can actually make your heart better? It could actually fortify your faith. It could actually lead to you turning to God more often in prayer and leaning on him more often. You know, when things aren't exactly going the way I'd like them to, I find myself praying more. So maybe sometimes God allows these things to happen to us so we can strengthen our relationship with him a little bit, so we can lean on him a little bit more. Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. When I'm weak, then am I strong. Hey mothers, repeat this when you're going through the stresses of everyday life if you have a big family, have lots of children, and you might be going through a day in which it's just never-ending. Things are falling in the house, one kid's hanging off the ceiling fan, you don't know when the day's going to be over, it seems like from the moment you got up out of bed and put your two feet on the ground, you haven't had even a second to rest. For when I'm weak, then am I strong. You lean on God in times like that. Notice what the Bible says in verse 71 there, Psalm 119 in verse 71, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It is good for me that I've been afflicted. Good can come from affliction. You might be wondering, why is this happening to me? I go to church every Sunday, I go soul winning, I'm serving God with my life, why am I being afflicted? Why do I have panina, rubbing salt in the wound? Why am I going through this tribulation right now? Well, it's good at times. There's good that can come out of it is what I'm trying to say. There's good that can come out of it, and it says here, it's good for me that I've been afflicted. Relationships can be strengthened. Like I said, you could have an improved prayer life. There are certain things you could look to as a silver lining. Again, God sees the end from the beginning, and it might be difficult for us to ascertain why in the midst of tribulation, and I'm sure Hannah, she had great faith, but I bet you deep down she was wondering why, and we might be asking that same question ourselves when we go through affliction. What? Why is this happening? And I'm sure Joseph himself was asking that question, why? How could my own brethren throw me into a pit without water, which pictures hell by the way, how could they do that to me? Why? And then you know what he ended up realizing? That all things work together for good. God sees the end from the beginning. We can't. Go back to 1 Samuel 1. So what's the lesson I'm trying to articulate here? The next lesson we can learn from Hannah's life is simple. When in anguish, turn to the Lord in prayer. When you're weakest, that's when the temptations are going to come to turn to the world. To go back into, as the children of Israel did in the wilderness, Egyptian delicacies, the leeks and the cucumbers, they wanted to go back to that. And when you're weakest, that's when the devil's gonna attack you and be your adversary. Just as Peninnah took advantage, exploited Hannah's momentary weakness there. But you have to resist that and learn to lean on God and go to God in prayer and lay your burdens on Him. Look at 1 Samuel 1 verse 11. We know that Hannah vowed a vow to give her son to God. And that's what he does, 1 Samuel chapter, she does rather, sorry about that, 1 Samuel 1 verse 11. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, and wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon him. So this is speaking of a Nazarite vow. I don't have time to go over this in detail. If you want to learn more about it, then turn to, don't do this, don't turn now, but after the service or sometime when you're studying your Bible, you can read about it in Numbers chapter 6. I'd be here for an hour and a half if I went through that in detail, so we're gonna have to skip that for now. But you can go to Numbers 6 and read about the Nazarite vow. Look at verse 12. And it came to pass as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. Eli wrongly asserts that Hannah is drunken because she's praying so hard. I mean, that's the only way I can describe it. She's praying to God, and it's an intense, it's a passionate prayer, and Eli's thinking, Man, this woman had a few too many, whatever, wine or beer or whatever. Look at verse 15. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Hannah poured out her soul before God. All her burdens were on him. And we need to do the same thing when we find ourselves in a similar situation. Psalm 62 says, Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before him. There's nothing wrong with getting a little emotional if you have to, pouring it all out on God, leaning on him, laying your burdens on him. Hannah's refuge was not alcohol. Eli thought it must have been because he wrongly asserts that she's drunk, which she's not. Her refuge was God, wasn't alcohol, it wasn't any, it wasn't some sort of substance that she had been abusing to try and numb the pain. She used prayer. And she wants to cast aside her own burdens to lift up her son. She's self set, she's sacrificial, she's selfless. That's the essence of motherhood. Hannah was ready. She was ready to have a child. Because motherhood is inherently sacrificial. We know this. And it starts during pregnancy. That's when the sacrifices begin, during pregnancy. If you think about it, that's when the sickness begins. That's when the body aches begin, right? That's when some of the problems begin. From a medical standpoint or from a physical standpoint, the pain and the things that you go through, the changes that your body undergoes, it begins in pregnancy. So really, women who get pregnant, women who become mothers, they begin to sacrifice for their child from the moment that that child is conceived, with everything that they go through starting from day one. It starts at the beginning. They have to take time out of their day, and then once the baby's born, they have to take time out of their day to take care of the baby, to breastfeed the baby, which is, by the way, something that you should do, breastfeed. Breastfeed the baby. They have total reliance. That baby, that innocent life, has total reliance on the mother, just complete and utter reliance on the mother. And that right there is the essence of motherhood, selflessness. Hannah had that to an extreme degree, willing to give her child to God. That's how selfless she was. She didn't want to have this child simply for herself or to stick it to Penina. That wasn't her motivation, but rather because she wanted to glorify God. She wanted to have a child that would glorify God. Look at verse number 16. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. So she's saying, hey, you know what? I'm not a daughter of Belial. She's equating being drunk with a daughter of Belial. And that, to me, tells me she has no affinity for sin, zero affinity for sin whatsoever, making that comparison there. But what we know is that she was in bitterness of soul. We know that she was in grief, and she was sad and upset and depressed. And so she laid everything she had on God and uttered a very passionate prayer toward him. And Eli thought maybe there was something wrong here. But in fact, Hannah was just using the Lord and trying to just petition God to help alleviate what she was going through. And Eli answers and says the God of Israel grant this petition. She got what she wanted. Hannah's request is going to be granted. Look at verse number 18. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early in worship before the Lord and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. The Lord remembers Hannah. She conceives. Her petition is granted. And she bears the son. And who does this son end up being? Samuel the prophet. Samuel the prophet. God entreats Hannah. Just as God entreated Sarah. Just as God entreated Rebecca. Just as God entreated Rachel. But here's the difference. Those three women, they were entreated by God, but they didn't necessarily have the faith that Hannah did. Because Hannah didn't have the doubt that those women did. She went to prayer, and I believe she went to prayer knowing that the Lord can deliver what she was asking for. And although it might be difficult as we go through this life and we go through the different afflictions and the tribulations that come with everyday life, especially if you're a Bible-believing Christian, in a world that's gotten more hostile towards us than ever, we have to go to God in prayer believing truly that he can satisfy what we're asking for. And even if he doesn't, we have to have the faith that says, even if I don't get exactly what I asked for, that the situation was right. That what ended up happening was right, and this is God's will for my life. That's the kind of faith we have to have. And it's tough, and it's difficult, and it's hard. But we have to, I think, have the spiritual maturity to do that if we want to get through this life. So what ends up happening, look at verse number 26, they bring the child to Eli the priest. And notice what it says there in verse 26. And she said, Oh my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. Hannah, who had wanted this son so badly to the point that she fell into a depression over it, that she didn't have him. She asks God passionately for this son, and in doing so she bows a vow to the Lord saying, I'm going to give you this son so he can serve you with his life. Again, think of the selflessness. This is the essence of motherhood, the selflessness that it takes to be a mother. Hannah was exceedingly selfless. Her main concern wasn't herself, it wasn't her reputation. It was that Samuel, her eventual son, would glorify God. That's what she wanted, that he would glorify God. She prays for this child vehemently, and then when she gets it, gives it to the Lord, lends it to God, because that's what it's all about for her, to glorify God. And a lot of people get distracted. Some people even forget why they come to church to begin with. It's not about being Mr. Popular like we're all in high school. It's not a competition for who can have the most friends. You know what it's about? Glorifying Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. That's why we're here. And if you keep that front and center, then you're not going to waver. And Hannah certainly did that. Some people joke around about this, oftentimes worldly people, and they'll say, man, I hope my child grows up to be an NFL linebacker or quarterback or something like that, because then he's going to make millions of dollars and I'll be set, I'll be good to go. And that shouldn't be our mentality. I've heard some people joke about that. I think it's kind of silly. You know what we should be saying? Would to God that my child would serve the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we need to be saying. That he would come to church. And look, I'm not saying that they necessarily have to be a Samuel equivalent where they get into the ministry and become a pastor or anything like that. Of course, that's not a requirement for godly children. But you know what I think we should be saying as parents is would to God that my child would grow up and be a consistent church member and be a consistent Bible reader and be a consistent soul winner and be plugged in and a blessing to his local New Testament church. That's what it's all about. Not about kids growing up to be some celebratard or some sports star making millions of dollars and drowning in vanity. So another lesson we can learn from Hannah's life is that motherhood makes a lifelong impact. And with respect to Hannah, she was willing to give her child to the Lord. And it was that action that ended up being making a lifelong impact, I should say, on Samuel's life. And here's what you have to understand. God blessed her for it. Her great sacrifice yielded a great blessing. And sometimes when you make a great sacrifice in your life for the Lord Jesus Christ, it's going to yield a great reward. And it did for Hannah. Look at 1 Samuel 2, if you would, 1 Samuel chapter number 2, and look at verse number 18, it says, But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child girded with a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. I want to stop there real quickly. Notice how much she loves her child, still wants to care for him, still wants to love on him. That's why we should be thankful for our motherhood, for our family, for our children, thankful for our mothers, because that's what they've done to us. Look at verse 20, And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went under their own home, notice verse 21, and the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Hannah was content with one, and she was content, not just with that one, but also content with giving that one to God. And unbeknownst to her, God blesses her after she bows that bow and she ends up having even more children. So if you make a great sacrifice in your life, a sacrifice that you think, man, I don't know what the end of this is going to be, but all I know is that God's going to be glorified, then understand God can reward you greatly for that great sacrifice just as he did to Hannah. And it's a beautiful thing. Now back to my lesson, motherhood can make a lifelong impact as it did for Samuel. The direction for Samuel's entire life, it began right there when she made that vow. That was it, and it impacted him from the very first day that he walked the earth. One vow, that's all it took, just one vow, determined the direction for Samuel's life. That's what godly women do oftentimes. They set the direction for their children's life forever. So children, the Bible commands you to honor your mother and your father. The Bible says, honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exodus chapter 20. This truth is repeated multiple times through scripture. You honor your mother. You respect your mother. You need to be thankful for your mother because without your mother, you would be directionless. If Samuel didn't have a godly mother, his life would be directionless. He would have to find it on his own. He would have to find his footing on his own. And you say, well, my mom's not safe. You need to be thankful for her anyway because I can guarantee you this. Your sitting here right now because of something, at the very least something, even if it was small, has been contributed to your life by your mother. You say, oh, well, she's not saved. She's not, she doesn't go to church. You could still learn something from her. She's still your mother. That's something that deserves to be respected. And so we need to love our mothers. We need to be thankful for our mothers, understanding that what she did for us set the direction for the rest of our lives. Mothers are sacrificial, like we just talked about here. Hannah, willing to sacrifice everything, totally selfless. And by the way, sacrifice is the ultimate expression of love. It's the ultimate expression of love. That's what Jesus did for us on the cross, sacrifice. And that level of love can never be matched by any one of us. They nurture, they clothe. We saw some nurturing there in 1 Samuel chapter 2. They clothe, they feed, they train. Don't underestimate, folks, the inherent value of motherhood. Don't underestimate the inherent value of motherhood. Always thank God for your mother. Call her up after the service, or if you already called her before the service, then congratulations, you're ahead of the game. But call her up after the service, you know, on your cell phone, and just say, hey, Mom, I want you to know I love you, and just God bless you. Thank you. Easy, right? Something, I think, that's the least we could do for them. I mean, think about this. Who's entrusted to the next generation of Bible-believing Christians? It's mothers. Who's entrusted to help lead them? These future godly men and women, it's mothers. And the reason why I'm emphasizing this is because I think sometimes, perhaps, women who are being mistreated, they might think that they're valueless, or they might believe that they don't have as much value as men. That's wrong. That's false. Because women are going to raise this next generation I just alluded to. The Bible says in Proverbs 22, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Think of the magnitude of this statement. Children will walk figuratively as you teach them to. You set that course. You set the direction. Hannah chose to dedicate her son to God so that he would walk as a child of light, and you, mothers, have that same opportunity yourselves. You have that same opportunity to help guide your children from day one, the very first day that they're born, to be godly men and women one day, just as Hannah had that same opportunity. Mothers, I'm going to even zoom out even further than this. I think mothers have an opportunity. You say, oh, well, mothers aren't that valuable. You're sorely mistaken, and something's wrong with you, because mothers have an opportunity today to help turn the tide in this country. I'll even go as far as saying that. Mothers have an opportunity by raising the next generation, like I said, of these godly men and women that I've been talking about who want to reclaim that which has been lost in this country. Yeah, mothers have an opportunity to turn the tide in America that's getting increasingly more wicked and raise boys, girls to become men and women who say, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You have that chance. Why? Because they will say one day, that's what mom taught me. Mom taught me to read my Bible. Mom taught me to go to church. Mom taught me to live a clean, sanctified life. Mom taught me to beware of the influence and temptation of the devil. Mom directed me from day one to uphold biblical values. Don't underestimate that value. Lastly, I want to focus on this. First Samuel 2, look at verse 1. First Samuel 2 and verse 1. by him, actions are weighed. Hannah, after going through the affliction that I covered in this sermon, after going through not having a child, she ends up getting blessed with one who she lends to the Lord through a vow and then in First Samuel 2, she rejoices. She rejoices despite this self-sacrifice that she's done to exalt God, giving her her son. She's rejoicing in the Lord. And so let's not only pray when things aren't going right. Let's not only pray when we're not getting what we want. Let's not only pray when we're in the midst of a time of affliction and tribulation. Let's pray when things are going right and most importantly, let's make sure that we're praying when we recognize that God just answered our prayers, just like Hannah did. God entreated her and she turns to him in prayer and rejoices. If there was more time, I'd go through this entire thing. It's a really cool prayer. Lots of good stuff here. She knows Bible doctrine, which is something else we can learn about Hannah. She knew who God was. She knew scripture and it's important for mothers to know scripture so they can teach it to their children and make that impact, that lifelong impact that I talked about. Hannah rejoices in the Lord after he entreats her. Let's not only go to God in prayer when things aren't going right. Let's go to him when things do go right and show some gratitude. So what are the lessons I talked about here? Here's what we can learn from Hannah's life. First I said that God opens and closes the womb and I talked a little about our response, what that should be and just truly loving people going through a difficult time. Just love on them. Be an encouragement. Don't be a penina. Be an encouragement to them. Be a friend. Lift them up. Lift them up. I said adversaries will try to discourage you. Again, the peninas of your life are going to throw a roadblock in your Christian life. I said that when in anguish, turn to the Lord in prayer. I said realize motherhood can make a lifelong impact. Don't underestimate the value of mothers. Don't underestimate the value of your mother and what she did for you. I don't care if she's saved or not. Don't underestimate how valuable she's been for you, the lessons she taught you from the very beginning, the lessons she taught you as a child, the lessons she taught you as a teenager and the lessons, yeah, that she taught you as an adult. Don't forget that. Be gracious unto her. And finally, I want to say this to the ladies in this room. I want to thank you for what you do. God bless you. Keep up the great work and don't worry about what penina is saying because you're serving God. You're on the right track. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you so much for this church and for the mothers here and Lord, I pray for the women who maybe aren't, who don't have a child, Lord, I pray that you bless them with one and Father be with them and lift them up and be a blessing unto them and for those who do have children, Lord, I pray you'd bless them with more children and help them to be godly women after the manner of Hannah, Lord, and help them to teach their children that which is right and stand for what's right, Lord. And Father, I also pray that you would lift up the men in this room to be protectors and to guide their families, Father, and help raise that next generation that are going to do mighty works for you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.