I Samuel 2:20
“Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” And they went to their own home.”
Eli gave a blessing over Elkanah and Hannah. These were the words that she had longed to hear. Her inability to have a child was tough. The Lord answered that prayer with Samuel. However, she promised to give him over to the priesthood. So, while she had a child, she only saw him once a year. Hannah wanted children in her daily life. Ones that she could raise. Eli gives her that blessing.
God blesses us often and in many ways. One type of blessing is a general one that goes out to all people. It comes through creation. Being alive, experiencing happiness, achievement, having friends and eating good food is all because of the goodness of His creation. One doesn’t need to honor God or be a Christian to experience these.
When we come to Christ we are reconciled to Him and become His children. We gain daily blessings just because He loves us and wants to do so. These aren’t earned in any way. A parent will surprise a child with a gift. The parent loves to see the joyful reaction. God does this to us. We would usually see them as good fortune, but the longer we walk with Him, the more we recognize them as demonstrations of His love.
The blessings that the Lord gives us can be unrecognizable. They can come in the form of problems. However, He is building maturity in us. Some of the greatest blessings may originally been people or circumstances that raised our blood pressure.
Another type of blessing is the one in today’s verse; those that come as a result of obedience. Scripture is full of examples: the parable of the talents, Mark 10:29,30, “those who have sacrificed for me will receive 100 fold in this life and the next” (my paraphrase), Malachi 3:10-12, “test me with giving. I will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings”, (my paraphrase).
The blessing that Hannah received was due to her obedience. She followed through with some difficult commitments and the Lord rewarded her. When we accept Christ, He becomes our Lord and savior. The lord half means that we yield to His instructions. We conform to the bible and we follow His leadings throughout the day.
The bible discourages vows (Ecclesiastes 5:5). These are commitments that we make that aren’t prompted by the Lord. The classic vow is, “Lord, if You get me through this, I will …”. God doesn’t need bargaining. If we are His, then He will do what’s best for us. We shouldn’t stress, plot and plan ways. Commit our plans to Him, pray and trust Him for the outcome (Psalm 37:5).
Lord, thank You for all Your blessings. Help us to follow You in obedience. We are grateful for the blessings that follow.