If our Heavenly Father says to any of us — ‘You can have anything in the world your heart desires and I will give it to you.’ I hope I would have a swift response so that God can take action immediately. Can God trust me enough to give me what my heart desires, and can I trust God enough to believe He would give me what I ask for?
My mind goes back to Hannah … we all know her for her sorrow. She longed for a son as she was a barren wife and the shame was too much for her to bear. We read that she daily went to the temple bringing her #1 request to the LORD. She was desperate for a miracle and knew that her present condition was NOT God’s final answer.
For years she was laughed at, mocked and scorned because of her childlessness. Even the priest jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk as she wept and prayed in her heart with only her lips moving.
Hannah’s response: “Oh no, sir—please! I’m a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I haven’t been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God. Don’t for a minute think I’m a bad woman. It’s because I’m so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I’ve stayed here so long.” 1 Samuel 1:15-16
As faithful as God is to His promises … in 1 Samuel 2:21 it says, “And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.” = 6 children in total
Like Hannah some of us have found ourselves many times at the altar bringing our barrenness (emptiness, dead situations) to the LORD. And suddenly the answers begin to tumble and kick inside us as we wait on the Lord. What we feel inside will always reveal our level of expectancy.
May our postures at the altar keep us there until the LORD answers. People looking on may jump to conclusions like the priest who observed Hannah at the altar as she wept and prayed silently … but we know that all we have been doing is pouring out our heart to the LORD … and not a drop of wine or beer is responsible for our sorrowful spirit.
God interprets our tears and reads our hearts and if we do not faint ... we will laugh heartily at the days to come. There’s no shame in praying long and hard and waiting at the altar for as long as God takes to answer. To be emotionally barren means you have challenges to overcome but the good news is, God allows the barrenness to prove that what is impossible with humans is a miracle waiting to happen with God.
If there’s no barrenness … there will be no excitement to witness a miracle in the making. God has chosen you to be emotionally barren … not everyone gets chosen to birth a miracle.
The LORD will make you laugh and everyone who hears of this will laugh with you. You will be a joyful woman and will give birth to new beginnings. There’s a kind of laughter bought on when it looks as though you missed the last train only to see a helicopter landing on the runway with your name on it.
Great verse to bring this to a close is found in Exodus 1:12 — the more you are mocked and ridiculed is the more you will grow in faith and those looking on will not be able to stand before you.
‘You can have anything in the world your heart desires, just ask me. Signed, GOD’
Amazing Grace 