I can’t say I really like my name John. Some derogatory meanings have been attached to it over the years. Things like ‘john’ being the name for toilets or the guy who pays for a prostitute. I really didn’t like my name when the TV show the Walton’s was running. Many of my work mates called me John-boy. But all in all, John is a pretty blasé name that during the baby boomer years seemed to be given to about 1/3 of the male babies born. I am sure this is an exaggeration, but it never fails when I have an appointment at my urologist there will be at least two of us stand up when the nurse calls the name, John.
Over the years, I acquired a few nicknames. During my drunk and crazy years, dare devil or just devil was one used often, especially with those who knew my perchance for doing crazy things. Things like parachuting in the dark while drunk. I guess that would have been bad enough but the guy flying the plane was loaded too. So was the ‘jump’ instructor that bet me I wouldn’t do it. During my drug dealing years I was known as ‘zone’. I can’t remember how that started but it was used for most of the druggie crowd and even crept into my work life for a while. My name and my nicknames took on different meanings as I ran through my mercurial life.
There is little doubt that names are important but not as they were or are in the Bible. If you take the time to study this amazing book, you will see that in the plan of salvation, God left nothing to chance, not even the names of many of the characters. There is a litany of people we could look at but in this short space, I have picked one of my favorites. Not so much because of her name but what she does to trust in God and grow into that name.
The woman is Hannah. You will find her story in the Old Testament, the book of 1 Samuel. I cannot share every verse but when the book opens she is a sad woman living in shame. She really has done nothing wrong. In fact she is the favorite wife of a righteous man, Elkanah. The problem and shame come in the fact she is barren, having no children. This was considered a terrible thing. And to make things worse, Elkanah has a second wife Peninnah who has had children galore and likes to tease Hannah endlessly. On top of that you could say her husband was a little insensitive. Here is how he tries to comfort her, “Her husband Elkanah 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 Samuel 1:8) Yikes! With a husband and family like this no wonder she was depressed!
But Hannah is a woman of God and the real hurt comes that she has cried out to Him many times and yet it seemed He did not hear her. Year after year when the family made its pilgrimage to Shiloh, the place where the sanctuary built while the people wandered forty years in the desert now stood, Hannah would pray then wait on God. This woman named Hannah, which means ‘favored’, feels just the opposite. Still she never gives up and finally we read this,
“Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on 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 all the days of his life and a razor will never touch his head. (1 Samuel 1:9-11)
As Hannah prays she is observed by the priest and her fervor is mistaken for drunkenness but God hears her prayer and the Bible says, ‘her womb is opened’. Hannah bears a son. Her sorrow is turned to joy, and she keeps her promise. Once the baby is weaned he is given to the priest Eli and lives in the house of the LORD. That child goes on to be, Samuel, the greatest judge of Israel. But that is a story for another time. Hannah goes on to have more children and lives in the favor of her husband and God.
Why do I love this story so much? It is because Hannah is living an ‘unfavored’ life yet she never loses faith and just as importantly never stops praying. God has a plan for her life and she is willing to trust all to Him. Year after year she is persistent in prayer, waiting on God’s timing. And she is not afraid to cry out her misery trusting that He would answer. In the end her trust is rewarded, she is ‘favored’. The promise of her name is fulfilled.
But the thing is it does not end there. Hannah does one more thing that I forget so often, she thanks God in the most humble and beautiful way. 1 Samuel 2, opens with her prayer. Here is the first verse, “My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my heart is lifted high. My mouth, boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. (1 Samuel 2:1) This prayer will be echoed by a young virgin years later. Mary, the mother of Jesus, would recall Hannah’s words and be inspired in a prayer called the Magnificat. God’s plan of salvation in action. How cool is that!
I pray someday you will take the time to read all of Hannah’s story. A brave woman who waited on God in prayer and He is His time fulfilled the promise of her name. Today we might take names for granted or have forgotten to choose our children’s names with prayerful thought but may we all look to God and His Word to find the meaning in our lives we may be missing.
Sabbath Blessings to all, John
1/26/18
