Hannah is my favourite person in the Bible. I don’t count Jesus – he isn’t human! I have so much respect for her that it is unreal. She struggled with infertility and it broke her heart. You can see from the torment of her prayer that it was having a huge impact on her mental health. I am lucky enough to have one amazing daughter but she is not an only child through choice. We tried for over 8 years for a second child and it just didn’t happen. I am sure that our fertility issues and the impact it had on me as a person are one of the reasons why my marriage broke down.
I can understand how Hannah felt. I can remember the desperation for a child, and the hurt I felt as more and more of my friends and family had children. My sister and my sister-in-law both had three children each in the time we were trying for one. Every pregnancy announcement took a little bit away from me. It must have been even harder for Hannah. She lived in a time when women literally existed to have children. Their ability to bear a son was integral to who they were, and their standing in society. At least I didn’t have that pressure, and I had been blessed with a child. I knew the joy of being a mum. Hannah didn’t have that.
Growing up, we were taught that Hannah went to the temple and prayed for a son. She promised that child back to God if he blessed her with one. She was given a son and she is known for keeping her promise. When he was old enough Hannah returned her son to the temple and kept him there to serve the Lord. I cannot even begin to imagine how hard that must have been. I dread my child leaving home as an adult, but to leave your child when they are still so small must have been the hardest thing she has ever had to do.
We also learn the God rewards Hannah for keeping her promise. She is blessed with more children for her faithfulness and trust in God. Whilst she got her happy ending, there is no way she could have known that God would bless her in this way. She willingly handed her only son over to serve God, knowing that he could easily have been her only child and she was giving up her only opportunity to be a mum.
There is a lesson for us all in this. I leant on Hannah’s faithfulness in my own fertility struggles. I would pray for a second child, and promise that I would raise them to know him. My husband wasn’t (and still isn’t) a Christian and my faith was a cause of contention in our marriage so this promise was similar to Hannah’s prayer. Ultimately God said no to me when I prayed for a second child. Deep down, I think I always knew it was going to be a no then. I’ve always said I would have my second child in my 40s. I am now 40, single and no sign of a man but I still cannot shake the conviction that I will have a second child in this decade. I may decide to adopt a child but I know I will be a parent again, and I’ve had this conviction since I was 25 and nothing will shake it!
Hannah’s story teaches us that we need to place our trust in God. He does hear our prayers and he does answer them. God loves us, and like all parents wants the best for his children. He rewards our faithfulness but sometimes we have to accept that it comes at a cost. Being faithful to God isn’t always easy but the one thing we do know is that like Hannah, it is always worth it in the end.
