The Noontimes

1 Samuel 2:18-21: The Faithful Mother

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Written on January 16, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite . . .

So often when we hear the Old Testament readings from the story of Samuel we focus on the character of Samuel, the man who becomes the prophet who listens so well to Yahweh that he is able to select first Saul and then David as the first kings of the Israel nation. Today’s Noontimes selection is focused on Hannah, the faithful mother.

These are the things that strike me about her story: she withstands abuse from her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, because she is childless, she is thought drunk by the priest Eli for her ardent conversation with God, she is faithful to her pledge to Yahweh, she is well-loved by her husband, Elkanah, and she is rewarded greatly for her fidelity. We might know people like Hannah, we might wish to be like Hannah.

It is so difficult to stand in our tiny spot on the globe and find our place in God’s plan. It is so overwhelming to sit in silence for the voice of God to speak in our ears and in our hearts. It is so tiring to hope for something we know we deserve. It is so taxing to be immensely misunderstood.

It is so sweet to arrive in the place where we finally feel that we have understood God’s message to us, to know that patience, and waiting, and witnessing will bring us to God’s heart. It is so filling to read in another’s demeanor that we have done God’s work in a particular place with a particular person. It is so gratifying to find that we have unwittingly done what we are meant to do.

God is good. God is faithful. God is hopeful. And God wants to reward us. God will never abandon us. God will always hope that we reach our true potential.

How was Hannah to know through the tormented years of her barrenness that she would give birth to three more sons and two daughters? How was she to know as she cried in the temple that she would find favor through her pain? How did she find the strength to wait and hope and watch? She relied on God. She found favor in God. And she was rewarded by her God.

May we all hope as Hannah hoped. May we persevere. May we, like Hannah, live in active patience as we listen, watch and wait.

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A re-post from January 24, 2012. 

Images from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_(Bible) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_(biblical_figure)