Peninnah is not a character we hear alot about in the Bible. But she was also married to Hannah's husband Elkanah and each year when they would go to the temple for a sacrifice, Peninnah would flaunt her many children to Hannah. This section breaks my heart:
...her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
I remember a time when my children were very young, when a friend of mine didn't want to be around me anymore. We had been friends for years, but she withdrew because seeing other women pregnant and giving birth was just too much for her to bear. I felt so awful, but there was nothing I could do about the situation. I wasn't provoking her like Peninnah, but as time went on being around babies was upsetting to her.
Hannah goes to the temple and prays so fervently that the priest believes she is drunk. She begs God for a child. She even promises to give him back to God (and she does). God grants her prayers.
But the purpose of sharing this passage today isn't to tell our sisters struggling with infertility to just pray and believe and God will give them a child. But rather to remind us to never be Peninnah to the Hannahs in our lives. Be sensitive this week to those who want to be mothers so much that they prostrate themselves before God and pray to the point that others think they are drunk or obsessed or foolish. Bless them and encourage them. Pray for them and love them. Let these beautiful women know that no matter what, God is with them on their journey and so are we.
DAILY CHALLENGE: Ask God to show you where those around you are hurting and could use some encouragement this Mother's Day.
