SACRIFICE

First Samuel one records the desperate prayers of Hannah, pleading for her infertility to be reversed. God heard her prayers, and a son, Samuel, is born. But, Hannah gives her son back to the Lord after his weaning by taking him to the house of the Lord where she had prayed for him in the first place.

 

She visits Samuel each year at the time of the sacrifice. Eli, the priest, blessed her and her husband by asking the Lord to give Hannah more children to replace the one she gave up, and God did bless with more children.

 

What a sacrifice to give up the very thing you prayed and pleaded for!

 

Choose a character from your work in progress. What kind of sacrifice could he/she make that would show a growth in character? Write a scene showing the sacrifice.

 

Why did Hannah have to give Samuel up? Would she have focused too much on him? We can’t be sure. But, we have to trust that when God asks for our sacrifice, it’s for the best.

 

What sacrifices is God asking you to make in order to write for Him? Time? Money? Control? If He asks for you to sacrifice something, it’s for the best and in His plan.