Do you trust me?

The words might as well have been flashing in neon from a highway billboard. There was no subtlety or whisper floating on the wind. Instead, the question was a bold declaration as I was walking.

The unexpectedness of the question on this day caused me to readjust my ear buds, wondering if the message was part of the podcast. But as hard as I tried to keep walking and ignore the proverbial elephant in the room, I had to pause and understand “why now” and “why there”?

The words speaking through my headphones were about Hannah. A bit of her story and the why behind her connection with God. As I was walking, I was half listening. I began to go through my usual list of “why” questions, beseeching God to hear me this time. And then, the mic drop!

Do you trust me?

Wait! What? Is Hannah the reason behind this question? Why is God interrupting my walk? And, do I need to address this right now?

God makes no mistakes. Ever! He heard my grumblings and my same old, stale questions. And now He wants me to listen.

The call was to stand up straight, let go of the same old questions, and listen to the truth of who God is and will always be.

I took some time to dig into the story of Hannah. What I found was a woman faced with infertility, a husband who loved her deeply, and an intense time of heart-wrenching prayer to God. Hannah deeply desired a son and was distraught over her inability to provide a son for her husband Elkanah. Hannah entered the temple sanctuary and poured out this prayer:

Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,
If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
By giving me a son,
I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline. 1 Samuel 1:10-11 MSG

It almost sounds like Hannah is making a deal with God. If you give me a son, I will give him completely to you. The passage, though, describes this as a vow Hannah made the day she was praying in the temple.

Hannah’s willingness to walk in faith and obedience, opened the door for God to take the next step. A sliver of truth filtered into my own heart. The words obedience and sacrifice began to swirl around.

The question that stopped me on this day was about more than answering “do you trust me”? You see, Hannah’s story lays out what it looks like to walk in trust and obedience. It required sacrifice on her part, but the story did not end there. God richly anointed her with a son, named Samuel.

God called me to stop pouring questions out to Him and open my ears to listening well. He knows I trust Him, more often on my terms than His, but sees the reality of the desires of my heart.

God took Hannah’s story and matched it with what I am learning about obedience and sacrifice. He reminds me:

Obedience may look like sacrifice, but the rewards are so much richer.

That He doesn’t need my help to move me from A to B. He desires my heart.

When I fall into a space of unknowing, God reveals His beautiful presence in many ways. 

That I am His Hannah. God hears me, sees my tears, and is oh, so faithful.

Friends –

Do you believe you are God’s Hannah? On those days you face the question, “do you trust me” head on, what keeps you moving forward like Hannah? What does it look like to walk in obedience when your feet are dragging and heart is aching?

I am exploring these questions too. God didn’t interrupt my walk for me to avoid the gift of a life with Him. And I know He wants the same for each of you.

[Tweet “When we walk in faith and obedience, it allows God to open the door for the next step. #TellHisStory”]

Together let’s embrace God’s interruptions. Let’s choose God first just as He chose us. May we see beyond our same old questions and know the answers are already written by a God who wrote our stories even before we were born. Together we can walk in obedience because God clears a way and what we can’t see now will be so much better than we imagine.

Blessings for a week of letting “do you trust me” stop us in our tracks!

 

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