Hannah's tears were like liquid words, and God could read them all.
The Lord understands the language of tears,
sighs, groans and earnest heart desires.
Grace and peace to you all in Jesus’ name.
Well, hello, everybody. My name is Christina.
And by the grace of God, I have the incredible privilege
of sharing God's Word with you today.
I am so excited to be in your midst today.
And I have a wonderful opportunity to remind us
that the plan of God for our lives is beautiful.
Amen! Do you believe that today?
If you do, tell your neighbour or if you don't have a neighbour,
tell me and I will tell you,
“The plan of God for your life is beautiful.”
And just as we have natural seasons in the world, Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 reminds us that,
“There is time for everything, a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart.
Yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to the end.”
What a beautiful picture it is to see people from all over the world joining us today.
Some of you will be in the southern hemisphere where you've been
experiencing your winter season.
Some of you will be in those countries closer to the continent
where the seasons are a little bit more stable.
Well, here in the United Kingdom, we have very diverse natural seasons.
Right now, we are coming to the end of our summer season
where the temperature is a little bit warmer,
fruit trees display their crops and the sun sets late into the evening.
In the coming months, we’ll experience the autumn season, where the landscape turns
gold and brown and children play in the falling leaves.
But then, we experience the winter season -
that cold, dark season where the temperature drops and daylight is limited.
Just when we feel as if winter will never end, the spring season boldly announces
its colourful character and we see daffodils blossom and all manner of flowers bloom.
Now, I personally dislike the winter season most of all.
But, of course, I have confidence in the laws of nature
that ensure winter doesn’t last forever.
And above all, we all understand that each season serves a purpose.
After all, there must be seed time and summer time before the autumn reaping.
But then I ask myself, ‘If we can have so much confidence
in the laws of nature when it comes to natural seasons,
how much more confidence should we have in God - the God of nature,
the God of the heavens and the earth -
when it comes to the various seasons in our lives?’
I ask myself, ‘Can I apply even greater faith in God
during those dark, harsh winter seasons of my life manifested in life's tests and trials?
Do I trust God that they won’t last forever?
And above all, do I recognise that each season in my life serves a purpose?’
This will bring us to the title of our message today,
“Everything is beautiful in God's time.”
The Bible says that for everything, there is time and season -
a time to labour and a time to reap the products of grace.
So, give God time. The results are working themselves out slowly but surely.
Now, I have a packet of seeds with me here today, and according to this packet,
this seed has the potential to become a sweet pea flower.
But you know what?
As long as I keep these seeds here, in the God's Heart TV Studio,
in this beautiful and comfortable surrounding,
this seed will never fulfil its potential because seeds are for sowing.
And, no matter the picture of what they've written about this seed becoming,
seeds are powerless until they are planted.
We also have a picture of an amazing apple tree on display with me right here.
Wow! Beautiful fruit!
But if this tree could talk, it would tell you that what you are seeing here did not just happen.
No! It took time and patience.
If this tree could talk, it would tell you that it was once a tiny seed that was pushed
into a deep, dark hole in the ground.
It will tell you, if that wasn't enough, soil much heavier than its own weight,
was pushed on top of it.
But this was necessary for that seed to germinate and discover its roots -
roots that would go deep into the ground to absorb nutrients from the soil
and absorb water, to give it strength.
And that strength eventually empowered that seed to push its way through
that heavy soil towards the light.
And here it is today, a fruitful tree.
Yes, everything is beautiful in its time.
But like the changing seasons, that time is limited.
Often, when we are young, we think we can go it all alone
without any reference to God, but little do we recognise
that everything has its time and season,
that man may toil and work hard,
but it is the duty of God to determine the time and season of the harvest.
What is your situation today? Do you feel as if you have been planting those seeds,
as if you have been praying over those situations, but you are waiting, longing
to eat the fruit of your labour?
Do you feel like you are in a deep, dark place?
Maybe you have been praying over a particular ailment, a problem or a crisis.
Maybe you're not sure if there is any corresponding action
or how to get your head above it all.
Let me encourage you today.
Maybe God allowed you, like that seed, to be in that deep, dark place
that you could discover your roots in God to become that man or woman of faith.
That by drawing on God's resources, you too can push your way up
through that sickness, through that trial, through that oppression
and begin to produce good fruits.
Now, the way that God executes His plan in our lives differs.
We may have been praying over a particular matter.
I mean, even today, you may have been listening to testimonies
or looking around at people who are sharing what God has done
and saying, ‘God, when will it be my turn?’
Instead of rejoicing, you find yourself asking God,
‘Oh Lord, I need my own breakthrough! When is my own coming?’
Maybe you are looking around at people in your life and saying,
‘Oh, everybody seems to be getting a job these days but I can't even get an interview!
Wow. All my friends are getting married.
They're on their second and third child already. Am I left behind?’
Or maybe you're saying, ‘Oh, everybody around me seems to be
on the housing ladder, buying homes.
But here am I, unable to even rent my own apartment.’
You think they're further ahead of you.
But I want to tell you that God is still saying something.
God has not abandoned you.
He has not neglected you.
He has not decided that you are not good enough, not smart enough,
not beautiful or handsome enough. No! He has not.
But the way and manner God executes His plan in our lives differs.
Today, I want us to draw strength from the life of Hannah.
And we will understand that everything is beautiful in God's time.
So, let us open our Bibles at the book of 1 Samuel 1:2.
Now it says, “Elkana had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah.
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.”
1 Samuel 1:6 - “Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb,
her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.
This went on year after year.”
Hannah was a barren woman in a polygamous marriage
where Peninnah, the provoking rival,
not only received what Hannah had been praying for year after year
but at the same time, she was provoking her!
Peninnah had children year after year but Hannah did not.
Instead, Hannah remained barren year after year.
Clearly, Hannah could have fallen into that lethal trap of comparing herself
with Peninnah, the provoking rival.
Because Hannah would come before the Lord and pray
but she would just see Peninnah having children time and time again.
When you compare yourself with others,
you choose to take your focus off God and His perfect will for your life.
Instead, you end up nurturing unhealthy patterns of thinking,
which in turn develop into full blown bitterness, jealousy, depression.
But God's Word is the remedy for every malady.
So if you are struggling to conquer comparison and find yourself feeling,
‘Lord, when is it my turn?’ -
instead of rejoicing at people's testimonies, you feel left out -
then let this Word of God encourage you right now.
Allow this Word of God in the midst of your heart and something inside of you,
a powerful force called faith, will allow you to fix your focus again on God
and His will for your life, and not on that of those around you.
Let us continue to read. So it says in 1 Samuel 1:7,
“This went on year after year.
Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord,
her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
Her husband Elkanah would say to her, ‘Hannah, why are you weeping?
Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted?
Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
Take note of what happened to Hannah
Whenever she went up to the house of the Lord,
when she had made that decision to come before God with her situation,
that was the time the provocation was at its most intense.
You see right now, as you have made that decision to come before God,
to join us for today’s Interactive Prayer Service, there will be distractions.
There will be things poking you, maybe disappointing you or trying to derail you,
to take your eyes off what God is doing, to get you out of faith.
Think about it.
What distractions right now are screaming for your attention?
What seeming conflicting priorities are trying to pull you away
from this moment right now - your Divine appointment with Jesus Christ!
As a Christian, it is your duty to divorce yourself from those distractions
so that you can come and fix your attention on the Word of God.
Focus is your personal decision.
So right now, make that decision to put every distraction aside.
Let’s continue to read in 1 Samuel 1:9.
“Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up.
Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost in the Lord’s house.”
Hannah made the wisest choice to come before God with her situation.
She stood up, separated herself from provoking Peninnah
and came before God as she was.
Like Hannah, maybe you too need to distance yourself from those who love
to provoke your weakness or from that which distracts.
The Bible says Hannah had finished eating and drinking,
knowing that only Someone much greater could satisfy.
Like Hannah, maybe you too need to stand up from that table of distraction
where you consume the pointless pleasures of this world,
and look to the One who makes food, drink or whatever it is you’re relying on, insufficient.
What do I mean by those pointless pleasures of this world?
I mean, those things that prop you up temporarily -
those things that seem to pacify your inner needs,
but they leave you hungry and wanting more.
It could be the dopamine hit you receive while scrolling through social media.
It could be the escapism of watching that romantic movie.
It could be lust.
It could be pornography.
It could be masturbation.
You know, what we have downloaded from this world
can infiltrate our mind and infect our heart.
Just like an electronic device that has downloaded a virus
and needs to be reset back to its factory default settings, we too need to be reset.
We need to be refocused.
We need a Divine detox.
We need a righteous revival through Scriptural solution.
So Hannah chose to put those things aside
and seek the One who made food and drink insufficient.
Let us continue to read in 1 Samuel 1:10.
“In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.
And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look
on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant
but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,
and no razor will ever be used on his head.’
As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.
Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving
but her voice was not heard.”
You see, when Hannah came before the Lord,
she was not known for her fancy prayer points or eloquent speech.
She did not employ any special prayer techniques.
No! She came before the Lord and cried because that was where she was at.
But Hannah's tears were like liquid words, and God could read them all.
As it says in Psalm 38:9,
‘All my longings lie open before You, Lord. My sighing is not hidden from You.’
This goes to show that the Lord understands the language of tears,
sighs, groans and earnest heart desires.
He understands because He sees your heart, not your outward posture,
not your eloquent speech or the tone of your voice.
You see, many people go to church today and pray loud prayers,
but only the Lord knows the heart.
Or whether they're just there to connect with people after the service for selfish gain.
Remember, there is no special formula for receiving answer to prayer.
Only faith pleases God.
So whether you cry aloud like Blind Bartimaeus
or you cry silently like Hannah in Shiloh,
or whether you sit quietly before your mountain like the man at the pool of Bethesda,
one thing is clear - if your action is genuine, the Holy Spirit will affect it.
So come as you are. God see your heart.
He sees your faith.
Let us read what happened next in 1 Samuel 1:17.
“Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and may the God of Israel
grant you what you have asked of Him.’
She said, ‘May your servant find favour in your eyes.’
Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.”
Why? Because she took that Word of God from Eli, the priest, to heart
and trusted in God's promises, knowing that God would make it good.
1 Samuel 1:19 - “Early the next morning they arose and worshipped before the Lord
and then went back to their home at Ramah.
Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.’
Wow! You know, the Bible here does not tell us how long that ‘course of time’ was.
But Hannah was strengthened by God's Word.
She had a look of faith to God's Word.
She took that Word to heart, and that gave her the strength
to endure that course of time, knowing that God was in the process
of changing that barrenness to fruitfulness.
This goes to show that there's two types of waiting -
waiting in faith and waiting by sight.
Those who wait by sight say, ‘I will not believe it until I feel or see it.’
But those who wait in faith say, ‘If God has said it, I will believe it,
even if I don't feel or see it - because I am not ruled by my senses but I act on God’s Word.’
Those who wait by sight wait in doubt.
They are overwhelmed by their circumstances.
They are easily disturbed at the slightest provocation
because they are ruled by their senses and what their situation has to say.
If Hannah had waited by sight,
she would have become overwhelmed by her situation.
She would have left the house of God in anger and frustration.
But instead she took hold of God's Word,
believing that everything would be beautiful in God's time.
And when Samuel finally came, she was ready to give him up to the Lord.
Because that process of waiting was to mature her.
It was to increase her prayer life.
It was to shift her relationship with God to another level.
Let us see what happened when Samuel finally came in 1 Samuel 1:27.
“She said, ‘I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.
So now I give him to the Lord.
For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.’ And he worshipped the Lord there.”
She had no problem giving Samuel up to the Lord.
In fact, it was her delight, knowing that what comes from God goes to Him.
All she was doing was giving back
what had been borrowed to her from God's generous hand.
What an example of faith.
What an example of responsible use of blessing.
What are you praying for today?
When you receive that answer to prayer,
have you thought about how you will glorify God with that?
I mean, when you finally have that thing you have been praying for -
that good health, that breakthrough, that blessing, that marriage, that child -
will use those blessings to honour God?
Will you testify to God's goodness like Hannah did?
Finally, do not misinterpret God's silence as rejection.
Sometimes God allows us to pass through hard times
in order to reveal His purpose in our lives.
You see, when God is executing His plan in our lives, He designs and arranges events
that continue to unfold until His purpose is revealed.
Delay is not ‘denied’.
What could be the purpose of the seeming delay in your own life today?
Perhaps it is to prepare you.
Perhaps it is to equip you.
Perhaps it is to mature you, to make you that man or woman of faith.
You see, if Hannah had had a child sooner,
she may not have had the great prophet Samuel.
She was not going to be the mother of any ordinary child,
but the mother of a prophet.
Therefore, that delay empowered her, equipped her and drew her closer to God.
God wants you to come before Him with the situation,
but He wants to use your situation.
He wants to use your challenge, your sickness, whatever your barrenness looks like today,
to shift your relationship with God to another level.
Hannah's seeming failure in the natural was her set up for success.
It was the build up to her breakthrough.
It was the positioning that was to propel her towards her future success.
Prophet T.B. Joshua said, “When we accept adversity, enduring every pain,
then we will learn what we should know; our grief will turn to gain.”
So let me leave you with this question now.
Are you ready to receive your own Samuel in God's way and in God's time?
Well, if you are, don’t base your faith on your immediate improvement after prayer.
Value the process, draw on God’s resources and like Hannah, you too will see
that everything is beautiful in God's time.