Why Do You Weep?

“‘Hannah, why do you weep? And why is your heart grieved?’ And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish…So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad…So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived…” 1 Samuel 1:8, 10, 18 and 20.

This story will grip your heart for sure. Hannah was a wife who had been barren for years and longed to have a child. Scripture states that year after year she prayed for this outcome and year after year her arms were still empty. One night at a gathering, Hannah with little appetite, and a heart that had been broken a million times before left the house to slip away to pray. The gathering I am confident triggered the emptiness in her heart and the suffering of her soul. Eli, a priest nearby saw her in prayer and mistook her for being drunk because he was watching her lips move but her voice wasn’t heard. She explained her heartbreak and that she was praying for a miracle. He spoke blessings over her and petitioned that the Lord would favor her. Our passage ends with the blessing of the day, one that I have lived over and over…'her face was no longer sad'…God transformed her pain into comfort without the favorable outcome.

‘Why do you weep this morning? Why is your heart grieved?’ Two questions that probably haunt so many of us in this season. I look back over my life and realize how God carried me daily and transformed my heartbroken state when my teenager was walking in darkness. The miracle that I prayed so hard for didn’t come for 8 years. Now that I am distanced from that experience, I can see that each day she was still alive I had received a miracle. Each day that I could get out of bed and care for and nurture my other children while missing her was a miracle. While I am so humble and grateful that God still had plans for her on earth, my understanding of a miracle has shifted. The miracles that are given are the daily comfort, mercy and strength that God gives us while awaiting our miracle. Hannah walked away encouraged, hopeful and re-engaged with life after praying and speaking with godly counsel. Her circumstances had not changed but her heart had. God invites us to bring our fears, broken dreams and grief to Him daily. He never tires of comforting and loving His children. It is through prayer and intimacy with God that every day becomes a miracle when shared with our Heavenly Father.