Hannah faced many challenges. She’d had a rough year, a rough decade. Her dreams and hopes had withered. Those early days and months of marriage to a man who loved her had been filled with such hope. Would their firstborn be a son or a daughter? How many children would she and Elkanah have? They’d teach them to love the Lord and each other. But the years passed.

Hannah was barren in the midst of a culture and era where a woman’s worth and identity were tied to her ability to give birth. To make matters worse, her husband eventually married a second wife who had no trouble having children and who enjoyed tormenting Hannah.

Elkanah loved Hannah, but he had no clue to the depths of her pain, hurt, and feelings of insufficiency.

With the ashes of her dreams at her feet, she could have given up, but she knew she was not alone. Her heavenly Father had not forgotten her and would never forsake her.

In her grief, she cried out to the Lord for a child and promised that she would dedicate her firstborn to Him. The Lord answered.  After years of being able to conceive, Hannah gave birth to a baby boy.

Hannah rejoiced, but she didn’t forget her vow to turn the boy over to the Lord to serve Him all of his days.  It must have hurt her heart to leave her precious Samuel, so young, newly weaned, at the tabernacle in Shiloh with Eli the priest. She must have kissed his chubby cheeks and run her hand over his silky, dark hair before hugging him tight with tears in her eyes.

 But I believe there was joy in her voice and in her heart, as well. The Lord had been faithful and answered her prayers. He’d fulfilled her hopes beyond her expectations. And she determined to be faithful, as well. There were probably moments when she wondered if she’d be able to do it. Nights of her boy cuddled close in her arms when she never wanted to let go. But when the time came, she followed through on her vow. She turned Samuel over to Eli, saying “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now, I give him to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1: 27-28a). The next chapter records Hannah’s prayer, a song of joy and victory, “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord, my horn is lifted high…” (1 Samuel 2: 1a).

Every year Hannah returned to Shiloh with her husband to worship and to visit her boy. Every year, she made Samuel a little robe and brought it to him as a gift, a mother, faithfully looking after her child and faithfully serving the Lord.  Eli the priest blessed her, and so did the Lord. Previously barren and bullied by her rival, Hannah went on to have five more children: three sons and two daughters. And Samuel followed his mother’s example of faithfulness. He grew to be a man of integrity, having favor with both God and man, serving the Lord with all of his heart as a judge and prophet.

God is faithful, and He calls us to be faithful, as well.  Even when the way is rough, and the storms come, or when the way is easy, and we’re tempted to forget our purpose. Even when life is bittersweet and our dreams and hopes seem out of reach, He is beside us, calling us onward.

As this new year begins, let us be faithful to fulfill His calling on our lives and to work with what He has given us in our hands. If He has called you to write, then write with energy and heart, and keep on writing even when the road is rough, and you feel like giving up. Or if He has called you to serve in another way, then do so, putting one foot in front of the other, walking, running, or even stumbling at times if need be. He has called, He will not forsake us, and He has given us His Spirit and everything we need in order to run the race He has laid before us, keeping our eyes upon Jesus.