All For His Glory
“Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides You! And there is no rock like our God.”
â€â€1 Samuel‬ â€2‬:â€1‬-â€2‬ â€HCSB‬‬
I’ve always loved Hannah’s story. She longed for something so precious for many years. When she went to the Tabernacle of the Lord, she wept and she cried out to God to give her the desires of her heart — a child. After the taunting of her husband’s other wife, and even Eli, the priest thought she had come to the temple drunk because of her brokenness, but she would not cease in her pleading. She made a vow to God that if he would grant her this one desire, she would give Him the son that she would birth. At last, God provided, and when the child was old enough, she presented young Samuel to Eli to be trained in the Tabernacle. These verses are the first two of her praise to God for coming through and doing as he said he would.
That got me thinking, of all the things that he has given to me — a husband who loves me, three wonderful children, a nice house, running cars, a career I enjoy, and an opportunity to minister to others — would I be willing to give it all back to him if he asked? My answer is, “of course.“ But that’s easy to say until he actually asks for it. Right now, all things are done for his glory. The way I serve my family and my church, the time and attention I give to crafting stories that won’t just entertain but minister to the reader; it’s all for him like 1 Corinthians 10:31 instructs believers to do.
But like Hannah, my heart rejoices in the Lord, and my cup overflows, because there is no one like him, and there is nothing that is as fulfilling as the time I spend with him. For there is no one or no thing that can compare to his glory and splendor.
Thank you Melissa, for bringing this back to my remembrance. There was a time years ago. I think it was 1986, when I read Romans 12:1 and really for the first time fully understood and experienced complete surrender of myself. At that moment I was completely humbled and gave myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord to accomplish His will with my life. In living or dying for His sake. I meant it with every ounce of my being. I believe at that moment my prayer was answered even though the results weren’t witnessed yet. I knew it in my heart and never wavered or doubted, because He had given me the vision of the answer to my prayer. I wrote it out and will share it with you sometime. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to me in my undeserving self. He is an awesome God.
A prayer many times asked. That we would see our son again. Gone since about 2002. Last we heard anything about him was first 10/20/2009 and then a friend of his got hold of us recently, saying he was there but gone again. But in it all, Jesus made it so that I was able to let go and wait. Because I know he is in God’s hands. You hear about students falling into the cracks. But in Jesus our son isn’t gone in the cracks. Jesus knows exactly where he is and what His plans are for him.