22/04/2011 - THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN

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“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.” (I Samuel 1:1)
The phrase “there was a certain man” has a great spiritual power. God raises men and women in order for them to become the people He’d determined. Yet, with the rise of sin, there are those who are denying their own nature. I pity them! The earthly lifespan is of about seventy or even eighty years… Some even manage to live to a hundred but only a few of them go beyond that. In fact, our journey here is too short, and it turns out that we’ll be departing from here when we least expect it. But if we do our Creator’s will – which is the reason we came to this world – we’ll live with Him throughout eternity.
In the passage above we can read part of Elkanah’s story, who was a man that had two wives: One of them was Peninnah, a mother of many children, who kept provoking Hannah, the second. Hannah was barren, but she hoped very badly to become a mother. Then she bravely got into the temple and made a vow to the Lord: if He gave her a male child, he’d be consecrated to work as a servant of the Lord. So, God heard her prayer and granted her that much desired blessing. Hannah did not forget about the vow she had made; she offered her son, Samuel, still a baby boy, to the Lord.
Hannah was the beloved, the favorite but barren wife of Elkanah’s. Nonetheless, she didn’t submit to defeat: she overcame by using her faith. My brethren, never mind how many people respect and love you and try to convince you that things don’t always happen as expected. Make sure the Almighty God is going to use you like He did with so many other people in the past. The very feeling He puts into your heart is what He plans for your life.
Samuel was born to show us that the divine plan can be carried out in any situation. Hannah only had to open her heart – and receive the prophet’s blessing – for Samuel to come into this world. So, do the same: don’t fail to claim your victory and take possession of what you know is the will of the
Lord. There’s always a purpose for everything He inspires us to go after. “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
The divine revelation wouldn’t have been fulfilled if Samuel hadn’t been born; there’d be a void, instead. My brethren, don’t let there be a void in the work of God. You came to this world to do something valuable in the eyes of the Lord. So, seek His instructions and be obedient by honoring Him for having planned to create someone as precious as you. Don’t accept anyone telling you that you came to existence by accident. God guided you and knew you when you were still an unformed substance, and intended a part of His work for you (Psalm 139:16). He kept you from so many adversities that would’ve put an end to your life, but what for? For you to be His joy; someone according to His own heart! You’ll judge with righteousness when you assume the position assigned to you!
In Christ, with love,
R. R. Soares