Sermon Tone Analysis

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During time of Judges, everyone did what seemed right to themselves, here we see how bad an idea polygamy is.

In almost every case of polygamy in the Bible, it is either, outright condemned or through narrative shown why you shouldn’t practice it.

Here, as well as in other places, we are shown the rivalry that results from two women competing for the same man’s heart.

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There are many women who have faced the pain of not being able to have children.

Hannah said she was a woman with a broken heart, praying from the depth of her anguish and resentment.

Verse 6 said that the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving.

Hannah loved and followed God, but God chose to withhold something from her that would cause her to suffer and hurt in order to accomplish his greater purpose for all people.

She couldn’t see it at the time, and neither can we.

We are Americans in the 21st Century.

We never look at suffering as a good thing.

And most of the time that is true.

But not all suffering is without a greater purpose.

God said when we suffer for his sake, it is a privilege and a blessing.

Jesus said

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James said:

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and Paul said this:

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Maybe your situation is something completely different, but regardless of the reason, the pain is still very real, and maybe you are feeling resentment towards God as well.

Now Hannah was not being disciplined by God because of her own sin that He was trying to get her to repent of, nor was satan attacking her and keeping her from having children in order to tear their family apart.

God chose Hannah to incorporate into His grand story of redemption.

Let’s keep reading.

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You say, wait a minute, so God kept Hannah from having children so that she would give away her only son to Him?

This still doesn’t make any sense.

How could this be a good thing.

The one thing she has wanted for so long, she still can’t have because she had to give him away.

Well, for starters, she didn’t have to give him away.

It was her choice to give him to God’s service in the temple, God didn’t tell her to do that, she chose to.

It kind of reminds you of what God Himself did with His own son doesn’t it?

The one thing God wants more than anything, to spend forever with His perfect Son, He gave up in order to save others, to save us.

Let’s keep reading:

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You see, in the first two chapters Hannah is contrasted with Eli.

Eli accused Hannah of being sinful, but it was Hannah who ended up honoring God more than her son.

Eli honored his sons more that he honored God.

We must choose to honor God more than family because He deserves it.

Those we love are gifts from God, we should thank Him for them, not prioritize them over Him.

The grand narrative, creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

This is God’s story of redemption, and Samuel played a huge role, and Hannah kept in contact with him, had more sons and daughters, and was so proud of him.

Hannah was a woman of God and when it was all said and done, and she was standing in the presence of God for the first time and was able to look back at the part she played in God’s redemption story, I guarantee you, she didn’t regret any of it, not only did she not regret it, she considered it a joy and a privilege to play such an important part in God’s salvation story.

Now I don’t know what part of God’s story your suffering may play, or whether your suffering is due to your own sin, which is a form of discipline, or whether it is due to the fall, because we live on a broken planet, but I can promise you this.

If you will determine to live wholeheartedly to God, give Him all you have and all you are, He has promised to make all the good things and the bad things work together for our good, for those of us who love God.

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We must live our lives like Hannah, completely devoted to God’s glory, and loving Him more than we love the people He gave us to be with on this earth for this short period of time.

We must love the giver, more than the gifts He’s given us.

You see what Hannah knew, that many mother’s don’t realize is that your children don’t actually belong to you.

They belong to God, and they are on loan to you.

He has given them to you for a short time, and one day He is going to call them back to himself and they will have to give an account to Him, just like you and I will have to do.

Our day is quickly approaching.

God said:

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We all will die, and after we die, we all will stand before the God who made us, and gave us life, and loved us, and died for us, and we will be judged by Him, and everyone will be found wanting, everyone will be found guilty.

But the author of Hebrews didn’t stop there.

Later, we put in verse numbers and split this sentence up, but when God inspired it’s writing, He didn’t stop at the judgment, He went on to say:

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Christ, bore our sins, and took our punishment, so that we could be saved, and so we wait.

We wait for His return.

We wait for Him to make all things right.

We wait for Him to stop all the evil, and pain, and suffering, and tragedy, and heartache, and resentment, and bitterness, and worry, and anxiety.

We wait for Him to wipe the tears from our eyes, and tell us that we are loved by Him and that He will protect us and shield us from all evil, from now own.

We wait as a bride waiting for her groom.

But we won’t be waiting long, so while we wait, we follow.

We follow Him, everywhere he is leading us, to do what He is already doing.

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God has prepared good works for each and every one of us to be doing until He returns.

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Every single day of your life is written in God’s book and planned.

Planned by who?

Not by you, you weren’t even created yet.

If you could write your own plans for the rest of you life, or have anyone else write them, who better than God?

Now I believe in God’s complete sovereignty, but I also believe in man’s free will, which God allows us to do, what He doesn’t want us to do, He allows us to reject Him, even though He doesn’t want us to reject Him, and I’m begging and pleading with you to be reconciled to Him.

Don’t reject Him another day.

Submit to Him and love Him, and give your life completely over to Him, since He is the one who is giving you life anyways.

Trust Him and ask Him to forgive you of sinning against Him.

And see what He has in store for the remainder of your days here on earth.

He can write a story like none other, and I’m looking forward to reading every page, day by day, and seeing the adventure He has written for me.