1 Samuel 1:5-7,10 (NIV) 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat…..10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.
Hannah was broken-hearted about her condition of barrenness. Although she was favored by her husband, Elkanah, she privately bore a great sorrow in not being able to bear his children.
Barrenness was especially difficult to cope with in Hannah's day. Children were vitally important to the economic and caring structure of society. (This is true today also). Each generation was dependent upon the next to guarantee the survival of the family business, preserve the family name, pass on the family legacy and maintain the family inheritance. Children were to grow up to be the care-givers and providers for their aging parents.
Not only did Hannah have to battle the social shame of barrenness, she was ridiculed by her persistent adversary and rival, her husband’s second wife, Penninah. Whenever she went up to the house of the Lord , Penninah, who was mother to all of Hannah’s husband’s children, provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
Hannah had a God-given longing for fruitfulness. There is a need within each of us to be fruitful. We want to see our lives produce something meaningful, purposeful, beneficial and lasting. We want to see something come to birth in our work, in our service and in our relationships.
Jesus spoke of how He was indispensible to spiritual fruitfulness: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
“This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
The New Testament mentions fruit as a vital outward sign of the inward life. “By their fruits you shall know them.” Right root. Right fruit. A life that is rooted by faith in Christ will produce:
· the fruit of the Spirit (Christ-like character- Galatians 5:22-23 resulting in a heart of love);
· the fruit of righteousness (Christ-like conduct- Philippians 1:11 resulting in a heart for holiness);
· the fruit of our labor (Christ-like ministry- Colossians 1:10 resulting in a heart for service)
· the fruit of the gospel (Colossians 1:6- Christ centered evangelism- resulting in a heart for the lost) and
· the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name- (Hebrews 13:5 Christ-exalting praise- resulting in a heart of worship).
Do you bear a deep burden for spiritual fruit-bearing of this kind? Be prepared to be misunderstood.
Sometimes it is difficult for those close to us to comprehend why we are not satisfied with things as they are. Elkanah wondered Hannah could not simply adjust to barrenness and be totally satisfied with him as her husband. “Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” He did not understand that we are made for something much more- and something that no one else but Christ can give us- true fruitfulness.
Hannah turned to God in prayer. She knew that no one else could help her. She poured out her soul. Her prayer was passionate, earnest and persistent. She made it clear that if God heard her prayer, what would be born in her would be dedicated to Him. Is the life you have miraculously received from God fully surrendered to Him for His use?
Penninah was Hannah’s 'adversary' and 'rival'. Every time Hannah would make a start ‘to go up to the house of the Lord’- Penninah would be there to discourage her. We also have an adversary and rival that would resist our going up to the house of the Lord and impede our progress in fruitbearing. Satan’s name means ‘adversary’. He stands against the purposes of God. Like Penninah he is an accuser.
We also have a 'rival' close at hand that resists spiritual fruitbearing. The Bible calls this rival ‘the old sin nature’ (all that we are apart from Christ, ‘the self life’, referred in some Bible translations as ‘the flesh’. It is that in us which wants the glory for itself. It is the Spirit’s rival: “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Galatians 5:17) Be ready to resist the adversary and make no provision for the rival.
Eli, the priest, representing the world of religion, could not help Hannah to bring forth fruit. He looked upon her outward behavior with scorn. In his estimation Hannah’s life did not conform to his standards. He saw her earnest prayer as abnormal, radical and fanatical. He assumed she was drunk. Rather than encouraging her to seek God, Eli rushed to judgment, and gave irrelevant counsel.
Eventually Hannah received a promise from God that her prayers had been answered.
How about you? Are you willing to pay the price and be misunderstood as you cast yourself upon the only One who can produce spiritual fruitfulness? Let’s pour out our hearts to God in an earnest prayer. Let’s rely upon Jesus Christ to produce that manifestation of fruitfulness in our lives, in our families, in our communities, that is totally inexplicable apart from His presence within. May the knowledge of God’s glory spread and multiply throughout all the earth. Let us press on with a God-given burden for fruitfulness
