Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. (I Samuel 1:17.18 ESV)
Happiness and Faith
Hannah wanted children with her husband, Elkanah. Apparently, she was barren. Elkanah clearly loved Hannah. He was satisfied with the situation, but Hannah was not. She could not, for some reason, have children. And that circumstance made her sad.
Hannah got help from Eli, God’s priest in Israel. Eli reminded her, with careful subtlety, of a similar situation in Israel’s history. The three most famous of Israel’s Matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, had been barren. And God had granted their petition for a family. Those barren women, crying out to God, had become pregnant.
Those three women were heroines of Hebrew history. It had not taken much for Hannah to remember them, in the same way that people today think of heroines like Betsy Ross, Dolly Madison, or Harriet Tubman when events or words nudge our memories.
God granted Hannah faith based on her memory of those women. God gave them babies. Important babies. Blessing babies. And Eli promised that God would give Hannah a baby, too.
With the result that Hannah, finding herself in different circumstances, was no longer sad. Her knowledge of the past was leveraged into faith, which blossomed into happiness.
Faith can often overcome the sadness found in circumstances. We must have knowledge of God’s working in the past, of course. We must know the God who acted then. We must choose to believe that God cares and loves and helps today as well.
Like in Hannah, those things can combine to make just the right mixture that gives birth to Faith.
But when we are imbedded in circumstances that cause sadness, God offers faith. Faith that is rooted in God’s stories of the past. Faith that is connected to us today. And sadness can be changed into satisfaction, happiness, and joy.
The best part of this is that God is not saying, “Stop being sad you evil-doer!” He is saying, “here is something… faith… that you can use to help your face not be said.”
Take the Faith God gives us and rest happily.