Why is it hard to admit failure and disappointment? Psychologists tell us it is dangerous to stuff such feelings because, when we do, they eat away at our internal strengths.
There is a Biblical alternative. We see it in Hannah, wife of Elkannah. She thought herself a failure when she couldn’t produce a child. She might have suppressed her disappointment for some time, but eventually she wept.
Hannah’s husband tried to console her by asking her to stop weeping. That might have been a convenient solution for Elkanah, but it would have been detrimental for Hannah.
God responded to the depths of Hannah’s sorrow. When she yielded to weeping, she released pent-up emotions and she directed her sorrows to the One who could help. The Bible says, she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. (I Sam. 1:10 NKJV) She said of the experience, [I] poured out my soul. . . . (v. 15)
Eli the priest did not understand and was judgmental until she spoke to him. Then he understood and responded to Hannah with a word from God. Hannah received the word in faith and, when she did, God set her free from the burden of failure.
Originally published January 17, 1992.
Picture: Como Park, St. Paul, MN, 2009. Photo by Solveig.
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