Devotion Corner

1 Samuel 1:6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

As Hannah had an adversary in Penninah, so too do believers in Christ have an adversary in Satan. Satan will look to taunt and mock the humble Christian, attempting to make them doubt the love of God, just as Penninah mocked and taunted poor Hannah. 

Satan looks to make the believer in Christ fret or worry deeply, robbing them of the peace that our Lord would have us know through His awesome and gracious provision. As Hannah experienced, these provocations are often intense or ‘sore’ to the spirit, causing deep sorrows that can affect our strength physically, mentally and spiritually. 

In this three-fold attack on the peace of the body, soul and spirit, we see how Satan is looking to attack the throne of the Triune God. This he will look to do by attempting to destroy the Heavenly Father’s adopted children, we faithful believers in Christ Jesus. Such battles we face, though seemingly aimed at us, are an assault on the very nature of God as expressed in His loving provision for His redeemed children. And as such, God will not stand by idly as many mortal men might. 

As Hannah was to find, such grievous attacks do not disprove the love of God. Instead, they prove His faithfulness, His power, His authority, as it was God who closed up Hannah’s womb, and it was God who opened it again. Satan had no part in the plan, yet he will look to impose himself on the minds of the Christian, all in the hope of denying God His due glory, by having us think on him and not Jesus. 

Yet God’s will would not be denied, as these provocations of Hannah would drive her to pray fervently to God, seeking a comfort to her sadness. In the grace of God, this comfort that was the giving of a son, soon came, leaving her sorrows far behind her. All this points to Christ Jesus, the Son of God, given to heal us of our sorrows and comfort us eternally. Amen.