Sacred Scraps: Get Up




She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 1 Samuel 1:18

I heard this verse in a message on a recent retreat.  (By the way, I know I am all over in Scripture lately.  Sorry.  Just following Grace wherever I can grasp some.)  I knew the story of course.  Hannah wants to have children but has been unable despite years of pleading with God.  Then we learn of the latest hounding session where a priest sees her and confronts her, thinking that her despair was actually drunkenness.  He finds out what the deal is and blesses her.  She gets up, changed, eats something, and is no longer depressed.  Eventually she does have that baby, named Samuel, who becomes a great prophet.

Probably none of us are strangers to disappointment.  It seems to be part of the human condition.  We have expectations.  We have desires.  People drink coffee out of mugs that remind the drinker that God has "plans to prosper you."  Heck, we have "the American DREAM." 

But dreams aren't reality, are they?

Sometimes it is as heart wrenching as Hannah's, involving a child who never comes or one who leaves too soon.  Sometimes it is simply never getting the opportunity to get that career or that job.  But we all find ourselves disappointed at some point.  Well, several points.

I don't think Hannah was able to get up and eat and not be depressed because she knew she was going to carry a child.  I think she was able to do this because of Who she trusted.

We all want to believe that our desires will become real.  But that isn't what happens, is it.  Instead of anchoring ourselves,, our success, and our futures to our desires, maybe it would be best to see our desires as an after thought?  Maybe holding on to the One who doesn't disappoint is the only reasonable response to this world.  And, no, I don't believe the coffee quote, per se.  I believe that God has me.  I believe that God is in control, ultimately, no matter what the world and my disappointment tells me.

I will get up, get a snack and release those expectations that weigh my heart down.  Life may disappoint, but God never does.

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