Devotion Corner

1 Samuel 1:3 And this man went up out of the city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

The man discussed in this verse is Elkanah, he who had two wives in Peninnah and Hannah. Elkanah’s foolish ways of having two wives, a practice going against God’s Word, saw its inevitable consequences take effect on both his peace, and his entire family’s peace. The mockery and taunting of Peninnah over Hannah having no children, whilst she had provided many to their husband, created a divided and sorrow filled household. So it is when a man does not lead his family according to the protective laws of God, as soon after peace will be lost.

Yet, even in the midst of such family discord, the mercy of God was to be found through a consistent action of Elkanah. Each year, Elkanah would gather up his divided family, and take them all to Shiloh to worship the LORD. This consistent act of honouring the Lord God, would prove to be the opportunity for poor Hannah to appeal to God for the blessing of a son. God has so often used the fumbling attempts of fallen men to further his will. That will being the answering of the prayers of a truly faithful but wounded heart, as was seen in Hannah.

Our walk with the Lord may not be perfect, prone to wander as we are, just as the old hymn sings. Yet, discipline of faith is never to underestimated. As the stumbling runner does not give up the race just because they have fallen, so too we are not to quit the race of life just because we have stumbled in sin. When we do not let hindrances and obstacles stop us from worshipping the Lord, then the avenue of gracious provision can flow freely to a struggling soul. 

Sometimes, the hardest obstacles to get past in consistent service and worship of God, is our own family (oftentimes due to our own sinful choices in life, as it was for Elkanah). Yet we are to push on, not surrendering to such pressures of infighting, discord or the like; but instead live in hope that God can do amazing things and can heal lives affected by such familial division.