TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 1 Samuel 1:6
Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-8
Listen: 1 Samuel 1
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Hannah suffers deep misery. She is childless after years of waiting. Her husband then marries a second woman to produce a family. This woman becomes her rival and torments her relentlessly. The family attends a yearly festival meant to be a time of laughter and celebration. But Hannah’s distress causes her to weep bitterly and be unable to eat. She suffers this way year after year. Her husband loves and cares for her, but Hannah cannot escape the anguish of infertility compounded by harassment. It’s an unspeakably bad situation that seems no good could ever come from.
This week, we will see God move in Hannah’s misery. God actively works to use bad things for good. We see God move in pain, conflict and suffering to accomplish more good than we could imagine. God eventually brings new life and hope to a nation through Hannah’s dark situation. God’s work in Hannah’s life foreshadows what he did for us through Jesus. All feels lost when Jesus hangs on the cross, but God uses that darkness to bring new life to us. Jesus’s death and resurrection bring the ultimate victory over sin and death. The power of God works in the most painful places to bring good beyond measure.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Look back in your life to when God used something bad for good. Thank him for how he moved through that situation for good. “God, _____________ was such a hard situation. Only you can take such bad things and use them for good. Thank you for using that season for good.”
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
October is SERVING. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
