This past Sunday, I was honored to be asked to speak at the Mother's Day morning worship services at a large church in New York City.  I spoke about Hannah.  You can read her story in the first few chapters of 1 Samuel.   I was encouraged to see that what I learned from Hannah's story, and what I shared was an encouragement to the women who listened.  

What I learned from Hannah is -

• She had the courage to pray ONE MORE PRAYER even though she had prayed countless prayers to no avail.  That ONE MORE PRAYER got her the answer she had been wanting for years.  (1 Samuel 1:17)  Today.. learn from Hannah and pray that ONE MORE PRAYER.  Who knows if today could be YOUR day that YOUR one more prayer is heard. 
  
• God was giving her something special - He was giving her a "Samuel".  He is a man who was a great prophet of God, and whose life changed a nation and the course of history.  Sometimes God isn't saying "NO" when we ask Him for something, but "Wait.  Not yet. Yes. But not yet." The timing of Samuel's arrival was very specific.  Be encouraged. Just because you haven't seen God say "yes" to your request doesn't mean He never will.

Hannah had hope.  You can too.  Hannah's hope was in the mercy of God.  Because she knew HE was the only One who had the answer.  Today, pray one more prayer.  Tomorrow may be the day you look back and say, "Yesterday..after all these years....I got my answer from God."

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

We cannot always put our trust in what we can see, and not only because looks can be deceiving.  But what we can SEE is not the whole picture of what is really going on.  For example, when we are brokenhearted, and when our spirits - our hearts - are crushed by something that is going on in our lives - we might tend to believe that our brokenness is proof that God has abandoned us.  When the truth is quite the opposite - that is when The Lord is CLOSE to me.  I may not see Him, I may not FEEL Him, but He is there.  If you are living through a brokenhearted day, week or season in your life - maybe He had you read this blog so that you would know that HE IS RIGHT THERE.  HE IS. Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.. but.. truth is always what sets you free.  Rest in HIM today.

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him..." Nahum 1:7

If you are a good and loving parent, you know how heartbroken you would be if someone could convince your child that you are not good, you cannot be trusted, you will not protect your child.  Exactly.  So then if your child is convinced of these things - then when the world comes in and shows itself to be the sometimes difficult, often cruel and unfeeling place that sin has caused it to be - your child will not run TO you but away from you. And it is YOU who has the comfort and protection your child is longing for.  That is why satan does his best to convince us that if God was a good God then the world would not be such a bad place.  Sin makes the world bad, not God.  And so the verse in Nahum reminds us that in order to trust God in times of trouble... we need to remember that God is GOOD.  When we know that HE IS GOOD - no matter how BAD life gets - we run to Him. And when we run to Him, He cares for us.  When we are in trouble, HE IS OUR REFUGE.  I don't know why God allows what He does.  I just know that no matter what happens - HE IS GOOD - and when I trust Him - He cares for me.  And you. 

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.  Psalm 29:11

Life can make you weak. Worry, fear, working more hours than you need to, bad news from the doctor - lots of things can take your strength away. Lots of things can sap your spirit and make it feel dry.  The interesting lesson this verse teaches us is that the Lord sends us the strength to get through whatever we need to get through.  I don't know how He sends the strength, but no matter how many times I think that the latest storm will bring me under... it doesn't.  And then He sends peace.  Yes, He does.  He doesn't take LIFE AS IT REALLY IS away.. but He sends the strength to get through it.. and He sends the peace to know that He is right there going through it with us.  I pray you will remember that God loves you. God has known about this day in your life for more than a million million times a million years.  He's prepared for it.   I remind myself every day that God loves me. And NOTHING comes my way except that God has allowed it.  He is right there, right now, with you.  And me.

"PRAISE BE TO THE LORD, FOR HE HAS HEARD MY CRY FOR MERCY" - Psalm 28:6

What a terrible thing it would be to realize how far we have fallen from the standard God requires.. and then go to Him... admit it to Him... and hear Him say something like, "Too bad.  Someday, you WILL pay for every sin you have ever done."  What a horror life would be... waiting and waiting for the end of life... knowing that A TERRIBLE JUDGMENT is waiting. I think sometimes I forget how WONDERFUL it is that He is a God who is LONGING to show mercy to us...... He WANTS to forgive... He WANTS to make our lives be the way HE INTENDED them to be.  He WANTS to put all our sin on the Cross with His Only Son, Jesus.  He WANTS to.. but He isn't required to.  It is His LOVE that makes Him LONG to forgive us and redo our lives as if we had never sinned.  So for today... just remember that you don't have a right to be forgiven.......except for the right that Jesus gave you if you claim His sacrifice as your own. And say, like the Psalmist did.. "Praise be to the Lord.. for He has heard my cry for mercy."  WOOOoooo HOOOOOOOooooo and HALLELUJAH!