Keeping One's Promises To The Lord

This is in connection to my previous post about my promise to God to give him my very First and best fruit from this site. You can read it here: Honor The Lord With Your Firstfruits.

I was reading the Book of 1 Samuel. I was reading about the story of Hannah the mother of Samuel. That's where this post will revolve in.

Hannah was barren. And we all know that for Jewish women, it's like their greatest achievement if they can give their husband not just a child but a male child. What's making it worse, the other wife constantly provokes her. 1 Sam. 1:7

Imagine the misery Hannah was going through. This is even though Elkanah, her husband loved her and gives her double portion. 1 Sam. 1:5. This love was clearly manifested in verse 8 when Elkanah said this:

"Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" 1 Sam. 1:8 (NIV)

Now isn't that sweet?

But that's not my point. Because even though with all these affection and love, Hannah's desire was to still provide and give Elkanah, a son.

Out of desperation, here's how she prayed:

"And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Sam. 1:11 (NIV)

That was the promise!

And by the way, this was not like an ordinary prayer, she prayed violently (shall I say) that the Prophet Eli thought she was drunk.

And God, as always was faithful to answer her prayer,
and then came Samuel!

Hannanh could have just forgotten about her promise. I mean that was like 9 months ago, right? How many of us forget what we promise the Lord when we receive what we were asking for. We can't even say, "Thank You Lord!" Hannah's case was like 9 months. She could reason out, I'm sure God would understand. Coz if I gave this boy up, it's still as if I didn't have a son who can be an heir to his father. And a lot more excuses or shall I say reasons. Sometimes logical reasons.

But...

It's not a question whether it's logical or the most practical, it's a question of OBEDIENCE and KEEPING ONE'S PROMISES to the Lord.

A lot of us can easily give a promise.

"See you at 4pm sharp!" and then shows up 4:30pm

"Don't worry, I will do this..." and then deadline comes the thing was left undone.

Sounds familiar? I'm guilty as well.

We easily break promises as if they're just nothing. But the truth is, it hurts people. It hurts your kid when you forgot to buy the right robot or barbie he/she chose. It hurts people when you come late. How much more God? It does hurt him.

See the situation?

God is always ready to GIVE and ANSWER our PRAYERS. We sometimes (always) fail to do what we need to do as a response.

Back to Hannah, here's what happened:

1 Samuel 1:27-28 (New International Version)

27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 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

That's one GREAT Example of KEEPING ONE'S PROMISES.

Now, let's go to you!

What promises have you broken before the Lord? Please ask forgiveness.

Are there still promises ready to be fulfilled? It's not too late to do them!

One more thing that surely would excite you:

When we keep our promises, here's what God will do as demonstrated in the life of Hannah

1 Samuel 2:21 (New International Version)

21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

See, God gave her more than what she has prayed for!

We truly have an AMAZING God, don't you think?

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

1 Samuel 15:22 (New International Version)

But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Reflection:

A lot of us can be busy building the kingdom but have forgotten the King. We can actually be doing "good" but not actually obeying God.

This is a little tricky because after all, God wants us to do good, to be a blessing and to be at work in the ministry. And yes, that's true! Don't take me wrong, God is glorified with all your labor of love for him. (1 Cor. 15:58) Saul was also doing everything that's good. In 1 Sam 15:20-21, Saul said "But I did obey the LORD," "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." But he was rebuked by Samuel saying "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?"(1 Sam. 15:22)
Saul was doing what he thinks is good. Saul rationalized that even though God commanded to destory everything, the plunder they brought would still be acceptable as it will still be offered to God. He failed to obey what exactly God wants him to do. This failure led him to be rejected as King.


In the same way, we can be very busy at ministering, helping the sick, donating to charities and doing "good" based on our understanding but not actually obeying God's will for our lives.


Let's seek God's will in our lives during our time alone with Him and assuredly He'll direct you to what He wants to do in a clear manner and know that His will is good, perfect and pleasing for you.(Romans 12:2) And If you seek him, you will find him(Jer. 29:13)


God Bless you!