Why Do We Ask “Why”?

Whenever we experience something painful, it’s so typical for us to ask “WHY,” isn’t it? Why me? Why do I have to go through this? Hannah’s story, in 1 Samuel, is particularly eye-opening! When she found herself unable to conceive and have children, it would have been normal for her to ask, “Why am I unable to have a baby?” The Scripture addresses that “WHY” question: “…the LORD had KEPT HER from conceiving… because the LORD had KEPT Hannah from conceiving…” (1 Samuel 1:5–6). God takes credit for her inability to conceive! While doctors may have come up with a “medical reason” to explain it, God’s sovereign control was actually behind the human “medical reason.”

Praying In The LORD’S Presence

Hannah responded to her condition by going to the source—“…she continued praying in the LORD’S presence” (v.10, 12). Above all our human problems and conditions is God’s sovereignty! Now, I know that many believers just don’t want to credit God with that much sovereignty. They’d rather say that God “ALLOWED” it; but He’s not really the “CAUSE.” And they believe they’re “protecting” God’s reputation in doing so! But listen: if God is not sovereign over every event and everything else, then you either have to believe that Satan is just as powerful as God— and there really is a “battle” going on between good and evil— and God might not win! Or, you have to believe that man’s “free will” is sovereign and trumps God’s will!

Sovereign and Omnipotent

I believe the Scriptures tell us that God is both sovereign and omnipotent. And in Exodus 4:11, when God said to Moses, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?” He was taking sovereign credit for such things as blindness, deafness, and the inability to speak! In His absolute wisdom, He uses the pain and suffering we endure in this world—for our good and for His glory! It was because Hannah saw her inability to bear children as part of God’s sovereign plan that she prayed with a motivation for God’s glory. She saw her negative circumstance as God’s opportunity to bring Himself glory!

God’s Sovereign Plans For Your Kids

All the years of barrenness helped Hannah realize something that many parents never comprehend—that children aren’t just for parents! They are for the Lord! God has His design for your kids, and they ultimately belong to Him! Are you more into your plans for your kids or His plans? Hannah’s not bargaining with God in her prayer—He doesn’t bargain with anyone! Out of her painful experience, God had changed her. He had used her suffering to prepare her heart to give her child to God, Who gave it! “After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel because she said, ‘I requested him from the Lord,’ though the boy was still young, she took him to the LORD’S house at Shiloh” (vs. 20–24). Hannah saw it as her great privilege to give her son to the Lord for His purpose!