FAITH CAPSULE: Provoke the hand of God against all that is provocative to you as a child of God.

1 Samuel 1
 
Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was barren. Hannah’s challenge was not enough to discourage her from going to worship God. Hannah kept going to the ground of worship with her husband and her husband’s second wife (Peninnah). In her going to the place of worship, provocation, mockery, aggravation for not having a child did not cease from flowing from Peninnah. Despite the Bible’s documentation of Peninnah aggravating approach to Hannah for not having a child, Hannah gave no reason or excuse not to go and worship God. Hannah did not make any excuses not to go worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. What is your excuse when it is time for fellowship? Going to church only on Sundays is not enough to carry you through yet you do have piles of unreasonable excuse not to go worship.
The Bible recorded Hannah’s situation, “…her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.”(1 Samuel 1:6-7)It is important for a believer to know and understand that when provocation follows one to the house of God,it becomes evidence that it is time to provoke the hand of God against one that is provoking us. Hannah sought the hand of God to divert provocation from her life. It is written, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”(1 Samuel 1:10-11)Hannah could not be silent in her seeking God but revealed her countenance as she prayed.She made a strong vow, calling on God to look on her situation she asked God to remember her and not forget her. God is a precise God. Hannah was precise in her request. She made it clear to Him that she desperately wanted a male child. Year after year, she went back and forth to Shiloh. Finally, God granted her request and gave her a son, Samuel. It could be that God is waiting for you to provoke His hand for your request. Take a lesson from Hannah’s approach, insist and persist on having your mockery converted to miracle. God is a faithful God.

Prayer for today:Ask God to deal with you according to His mercy.