Pastor Zheng of Anqing Church shared a Mother’s Day message about Hannah, a mother in the Bible, on May 14, 2017.
The message has three parts: 'being provoked by people', 'misunderstood by priests', and 'tested in faith'.
The name “Hannah” means "God has favored me". Hannah was humiliated because she was barren; but, deep down, she knew that it was up to God, not herself, to bless her with a child. She prayed in her heart, and her lips were moving; but, her voice was not heard. She kept on praying to the Lord.
Then Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple and saw Hannah. He was the highest spiritual leader in Israel, yet he knew nothing about the faith and righteousness of Hannah, let alone the fact she was praying. He thought she was drunk. Hannah told the Lord her troubles through prayer. She no longer carried the burden herself but trusted it to God. The Lord remembered her and Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. Hannah didn't forget that it was grace from God and named the child Samuel, meaning she asked the Lord for him. After he was weaned at about three years old, his parents took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life, he will be given over to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:26-28). This was her prayer before God.
In addition to the message on Hannah, Anqing Church bought over five hundred carnations for the mothers at the service. The Sunday school also prepared a gift for every child, so they could take home a carnation to their parents with the hope that they learn to be grateful for their parents from a young age.
Translated by Grace Hubl
