Links for today’s readings:
Read: 1 Samuel 1 Listen: (4:13) Read: Hebrews 12 Listen: (4:36)
Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 1.15-20
15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” 17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” 18 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. 19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 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.”
Reflection: God Starts In The Dark
By John Tillman
God always seems to begin things in the dark.
In the beginning, God’s Spirit hovered over chaotic darkness and brought light. Narratively, God does this over and over. God keeps showing up in the dark saying, “Let there be light.”
We see many biblical people experience darkness of one kind or another. They once were “walking in darkness” before God entered their lives and they saw “a great light.” (Matthew 4.16; Isaiah 9.2)
Hannah’s darkness was being a barren woman in a culture that measured women’s worth by the one thing she lacked: children. (Our culture still does this in subtle ways and if certain cultural forces have their way, may do so in legal and tangible ones.) When God spoke light into Hannah’s darkness, she joined a special group of women. Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Manoah’s wife, Hannah, the Shunammite woman, and Elizabeth all gave birth to children that were miraculous gifts of God.
Infertility is not the only kind of darkness. Are you in the dark? What kind of darkness is in your family, school, community, or nation? Cry out, like Hannah. Don’t hold back. Even if others, like Eli, misunderstand, God won’t. God hears.
Samuel’s name means, “Heard by God.” But God did not just bring light to Hannah. Through Hannah’s light, Samuel shone, making a difference in the lives of Israel. Samuel reminded Israel that God heard them.
Light does different things in different situations. Under certain circumstances, light burns, melts, and destroys. Under the right circumstances, light finds lost things, brings safety, and cleanses, dries, and purifies things left too long in damp or dark.
Samuel’s light that brought judgment and exposed corruption. He brought encouragement and hope, truth and justice. His light banished his mother’s shame but shamed Eli’s wicked sons. His light exposed darkness in Saul, the seemingly ideal warrior king, and exposed righteousness in David, the seemingly unfit shepherd king.
No matter how chaotic or dark life seems, whether you are experiencing personal darkness, like Hannah, or national darkness like Israel, light is coming.
Sometimes God shines light for you—to comfort, encourage, heal, help, or guide you. Sometimes God shines light through you—to teach truth, expose sin, confront wickedness, or find lost things. God never brings light to you, that he doesn’t expect to shine through you.
The light has shone and will shine in the darkness. The darkness cannot and will not overcome it.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim. — Psalm 80.1
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: Room For Hannah
We need to clear out some space for people in emotional distress — theological space, physical space, and liturgical space.
Read more: New Days Begin in the Dark
God does hover, caringly over our dark chaos. He does cause his light to shine on us.
