What pain must have ripped through her chest, tugging at her heart, as she turned and walked away? What sorrow did she encounter as she slept her first night alone... her baby boy now ushered into the house of God.
I can only taste Hannah's struggle now as I pray over my boy and realize the desperate need I have to release him. Release and surrender, once again.
Like Hannah, I asked for him. My sweet boy.
I pleaded with the Lord. Praying over my womb, I asked God to give me a warrior. Within weeks of becoming pregnant, I knew he was a boy... and I knew his name. He would be called, "Asked of God". He was a direct answer to my prayers of God's warrior.
Early in my life young teen life, because of my health issues, I was told that it was unlikely I would ever bear a child. But, God knew better. God gave me two precious ones. I asked for them both... my two sweet miracle-gift babies.
Like Hannah, I asked for them. And, God chose to answer with a massive and beautiful, "Yes!"
...but, also, like Hannah, I know they belong to Him. They are His. His creation. His kids. His delight.
All along I have known they were gifted to me. A stewardship offered. They were precious possessions on loan to me, their mother. They have always been His, before the foundation of the earth (Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 1:4) ---His cherished ones, knit together in my womb.
And, I have indeed, time-and-time-again, surrendered them to His care.
But, somewhere deep within, these two sweet babes still tug so tightly to my womb; almost like they are still attached. And, if I am honest, somewhere deeper within I hear an unhealthy, sinful cry:"mine!".
My babies. My children. Mine.
Mine to care for. Mine to guide. Mine to fix and make perfect.
Oh! The sickness of possessing and holding too tightly. The tug and the ripping is a painful one.
What must it have felt like for Hannah to go to the temple that day and hand her miracle-gift over to God? We are told in 1 Samuel 2, that she turns and walks away with praise on her lips, declaring God's power and glory and goodness. She will declare His faithfulness and His goodness. My heart finds courage in her worship song!
I taste the bitter and the sweet pain of release tonight as I hear the call of their Father, my Father.
They belong to Me, my love. They are mine, my daughter.
My loving Father gently calls and reminds my heart that these two sweet miracles are His to care for. His to guide. His to fix and perfect.
I need to release. I need to lay them down again. Tonight I need to drop my boy off at His house, and let him live under His roof.
"I prayed for this child and the Lord 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." (I Samuel 1: 9-28)