It All Belongs to Him

1 Samuel 2:1-10

“Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
    in the Lord my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
    for I delight in your deliverance.”

The Pastor of our church told us a story the other day. It is kind of crazy and awesome at the same time. In the middle of a building campaign for the new church home, he told us what the Lord told him to do. First, I have to tell you about the blessing. One of the members of our church owned a home building company and knew the pastor needed a home to live in, so he decided to build him his “forever home” at cost. What a huge blessing. Moving forward some years later, we are in the middle of a building campaign for the church and the Lord tells our pastor to sell the house and everything in it. Be “All in” for the Lord. Shocked by the request, he tells his wife and at first, she is not on board. After some days, she comes to him and tells him she is also all in and they sell the house and everything in it. You would think they would be sad because that was their forever home, but they are excited to see what the Lord is going to do.

After hearing this testimony, I found out about others who have done the same thing. Overjoyed by what the Lord was up to, they all moved forward with the crazy, but awesome requests. Are you all in or not?

Hannah made a promise to the Lord to give up the child, Samuel, before he was even conceived to the Lord. In a desperate prayer with tears in her eyes, she decided to be “all in” even though she was not able get pregnant. She left it all in the hands of the Lord. Hannah conceives a son and names him Samuel. True to her prayer, she drops off Samuel at the temple when he is weaned. 1 Samuel 1:28, “So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.”

Chapter 2 opens up with Hannah’s prayer to the Lord after she drops off Samuel and puts him in the care of Eli the high priest at very young age. If you read Hannah’s prayer, it is completely shocking to me. You would think you would find a remorseful prayer of sorrow and sadness because she dropped off her only son. The first and only son at that. For only a short time, she would be comforted by his presence at the home only to give him away never to grow up under her watchful eyes filled with love. Now he is part of the temple, to grow in and become a man of God. While all that is very true, you don’t find any of that remorse in her prayer at all. Instead, you find a rejoicing prayer that Hannah even says that her mouth boasts over her enemies and she delights in the Lord. She goes on to state the awesome power of the Lord in many ways. She ends her prayer with a statement that says the Lord will exalt the horn of his anointed. Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, after her prayer goes home to Ramah and left the boy at the temple.

I have never been told by the Lord to sell my house and everything in it. That would be a hard thing to carry out in faith. Hannah gave up her own son to the Lord and judging by her prayer, she was excited to do it. Even though what Jesus went through was tough, the joy in taking the sin of the world away drove Him to sacrifice Himself for us. This blows my mind. My pastor and his wife are filled with excitement after selling their forever home because they know the Lord is up to something great. The other people I know who did the same feel the same way, excited. Crazy enough, my pastor and the others were never homeless because the Lord provided. Hannah goes on to have five more kids.

Today, we should all take this prayer and make it personal. Are you “all in” for the Lord, even with some of your most prize possessions? You may not be asked to give up your house, but what about that habit or your tithe? Maybe that friend group you know is not good for you? In the end, it all belongs to the Lord. Revelation 4:10-11 says, “the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” It all belongs to Him.