“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait on Him” (Isaiah 30:18).

I know better. I’ve seen God’s faithfulness. Still, in a season of hard, where I don’t see his answers, it’s easy to let doubt creep in or rather barge in. It’s then, I want to say, “Where are you God? Are you there? Do you care?”

But you and I both know by now we can’t see what God sees and we can’t know what he knows. However, we can trust that when we pray, a plan gets laid. We may not know how and we may not know the when, but we know the will.

He will.

Because it’s in God’s character to answer, and redeem. We see it over and over in Scripture.

When I find myself in the hard place of wait, it’s comforting to read about someone else who has waited there. And that’s why I like the story of Hannah. No one fits the bill of being blessed for the waiting more than Hannah. Her name even means blessed. But at the time of her dilemma, around 1105 BC, she felt anything but.

During Hannah’s time, children were a woman’s legacy — her honor — particularly if she had a boy child. However, if she were barren, like Hannah (the Bible says specifically, in 1 Samuel 1:5 that God closed her womb), you were thought of as less than or even a sinner that God was punishing.

But Hannah was a God-fearing woman, who desperately wanted a child. She probably prayed day and night, wondering why God was making her wait especially when she got bullied for being barren.

Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. Though Elkanah was a godly man, as was the custom of the time, he had two wives. His other wife was named Peninnah. Now, Peninnah was prolific. She had many sons and daughters. And she was jealous of Hannah because she thought Elkanah loved Hannah more. She viciously picked on Hannah, every chance she got.

Peninnah’s best opportunity to hound Hannah was a yearly trek they all made together to the temple some fourteen miles away. Every year they went there for a festival of rejoicing where sadness was prohibited. By the time a they got to Shiloh, Hannah had been ridiculed to the point of despair and couldn’t eat. One such time she was so hungry and despondent, she went to the temple and poured her heart out to the Lord. She had had enough. Crying out to the Lord for a child, she vowed this baby she prayed for to be dedicated back to God’s service for all the days of the his life.

God knew Hannah would make this costly vow. He also knew she’s make good on it.

Israel needed a righteous judge to rule and Hannah needed to be blessed. So at the right time, God’s time, He answered Hannah’s prayer. She became pregnant with the child, a son she would name Samuel.

And though Hannah gave up her son at the age of three years to the service of the Lord, just as promised, she was blessed.

Samuel would be the greatest judge in Israel’s history anointing Israel’s first king, Saul… and her greatest earthly king, David.

Hannah waited
God waited for Hannah to surrender the very thing she wanted most
God greatly blessed Hannah

[bctt tweet=”In this hurry up, give it to me now world, it’s comforting to know God has a plan. Certain things have to happen for others to take place. There is a purpose for our pain, and God is working in the wait.” username=”PatHolbrook”]

Hannah’s story encourages us to know, God is forever in control.

“Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3b)

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[bctt tweet=”LINKUP PARTY is open! In this journey as a child of God, I don’t know many things that are more difficult than waiting, do you? Today, @christy_mobley reminds us that God is always at work as we wait. JOIN US?” username=”PatHolbrook”]