There is very little that God honored more throughout the Bible than faithfulness. Probably because it is so against our natures to be faithful. From losing weight to planning a career, we find it nearly impossible to stay faithfully committed to anything. Often we are sidetracked by the most mundane and frivolous things. It is a basic weakness in the fabric of our humanity. Our lives tend to be a constant struggle of “getting straight” or “staying straight.” This is one reason I am always amazed at certain people mentioned in Biblical text. Although most followed the same pattern that we do, a few have the remarkable characteristic of faithfulness.
Anna, a prophetess that lived in the time of the birth of Christ, is one such person. A mere three verses in the second chapter of Luke is the only recorded history of Anna’s life but what is said in those three verses is simply incredible. “And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” In other words she had been a widow for 84 years and had served the Lord faithfully all that time. What a testimony!
Hannah, the mother of Samuel is another wonderful example of faithfulness. Barren for years, she fervently prayed for a child. In a moment of prayer, she promised the child to God if He would only grant her petition.
As Hannah gave birth to a fine baby boy, she said, “I will name him Samuel, because I have asked him of the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:20). As her husband and all of his house prepared to make the yearly pilgrimage to Shiloh, Hannah declared, “I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever” (1Samuel 1:22). Her commitment to the savior of Israel went much deeper than yearly sacrifices or burnt offerings. She desired none of the glory or praise that she would receive when the other women from these pilgrimages saw that she had given birth.
There was no shadow of turning with Hannah. She never questioned whether or not God expected her to keep a promise that she made. No excuses where offered, no trying to put off the inevitable. The Bible records that “when she had weaned him” she took him and an offering and went to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. Hannah didn’t even wait for the next yearly pilgrimage to the temple. She could have reasoned that he was still too young for such a journey, or that he could be “mentally” scarred if she left him there too young. But Hannah was not looking for excuses, she was faithful.
Boldly she presented Samuel to Eli, the High Priest. No tears are mentioned, no sorrow is even alluded to. In fact the prayer of Hannah, written in the second chapter of 1 Samuel begins “My heart rejoiceth in the LORD.” Hannah found a joy that many Christians will never discover. Not because we are unable, but because we are unwilling.
Faithfulness is not easy. It cannot be accomplished in a three day fast or an intense Bible study. It takes time to be faithful. But for those that achieve that mark there is a reward that surpasses anything we can imagine.
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus: And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Revelation 14:12,13) |
