Not Mine, But God’s

Mother’s Day

I Samuel 1: 9-28

Unfortunately, people compare themselves with each other and count their worth by how much money one makes.

Lately some people did study to find out how much should the wage of a mother be.

The answer: $131,000/year (or approximately $11,000/month).

The basic salary is 43,000 for 40 hours of work.

She works 60 hours of overtime which makes 88,000

The tasks of a Mom: driving kids around, shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, management, first aid, supervising homework, cheerleading, making sure that the family is happy, ….

Do all these sound familiar to you?

Some also need to be the bread maker of the house. WOW!

The people who did this statistic about mothers’ wages came up with that number for her salary. Let me ask you again, how much we should pay to our mothers?

I think whatever we pay is not enough.

A math teacher gives a problem to the students.

Pretend you are at home. And the family members are seven: 5 kids, father and mother.

If mom brings a cake and divides equally, what proportion belongs to you?

“A sixth is the answer.” The student replies.

“But I am telling you there are seven members” The teacher says.

“I know”, he says, “but you do not know my mother; she gives up her share so we will have more.”

Last Sunday I was listening to a presentation by Nouritsa Matossian about Arshille Gorky, the famous Armenian painter.

He was about 13 during the massacres. His mother, sister and he were starving in Van. Their father was in the USA. Their mother was trying to help her children to survive. And whenever they had any crumbs of food, their mother would give it to the children.

Mothers. Do we really appreciate mothers?

Today if a mother does not work outside the home, she is considered old-fashioned. Although life is more complicated in these days, I think we should never underestimate the role of the mother in the houses.

Today we will study a woman, who is very real. Her emotions, thoughts and actions are written in the Word of God. We can learn from this family.

1- Hannah was depressed. She wanted to have a child. “The Lord had closed her womb” (vs. 6).

In this difficult situation I see that she finds a way to communicate with her husband.

Her husband Elkanah said, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted?” (vs. 8)

All these sentences are wonderful. Poor fellow, he is trying to understand his wife. He is trying to encourage her.

“Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons? (vs. 8)

“Elkanah, Hannah knows your place in her life, but she also misses having a child.”

We men need to understand that our place in the house is different than that of children. We men are different from women. We men are task oriented. We need to give time for women to express themselves sometimes by talking, sometimes by allowing them to weep, sometimes by listening.

It took me some time to understand this, and I am still trying!

We all need to learn from Elkanah to stand by our wives during such difficult times, even if we do not understand their feelings.

2 Elkanah’s words were not enough to comfort Hannah. He encouraged his wife to eat and continue living (vs. 9). The problem was not solved.

The next step is very important:

Hannah went to the temple of God. She continued with presenting her request to the Lord.

Where do you go when you have a question?

How do you solve your problems?

Whom do you refer to?

Unfortunately, some mothers refer to anything or anyone but Christ. Lately I heard this expression: ABC, anything but Christian.

Today the world tries to invade our life with its messages. Today non-Christian easy answers can invade our homes. Secularism is all around us.

Self help is preached. We think we do not need God.

Church attending and Christian education is not a priority for many mothers and fathers. Therefore children are deprived of a Christian environment.

Hannah goes to God: the best person to refer to. Let me tell you. God gave her a child. And I know many women who asked God for a child, but were not granted what they asked for. However, God granted them opportunities to be mothers in different ways.

I know a person like that, who was praying for a child. She did not have one.

She dedicated her life to school work in serving children, especially children from broken homes.

We think the miracle of this story is Samuel. Yes, but more than that.

3- Hannah dedicates her son to God. Samuel: (Shama EL) God listened.

Every year Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord (vs. 21).

He was happy that Samuel was born; he wanted his wife and son to go with him.

Hannah refused to go. She was nursing her son. She wanted to give him full attention in his first years to prepare him to be presented to the temple (the service of God).

Again, I like to give credit to Elkanah. I do not know how much he understood his wife, but he allowed his wife and son to stay at home. He trusted his wife’s prayer life. He knew that God had a plan for his son, and trusted his wife.

We need to have communication in the house.

The roles of the mother and the father are complementary. Today so many children are raised with single parents. These mothers are incredible. Some mothers whom we heard today did the impossible to fill the role of the father too.

4- Not mine, but God’s

Hannah learned that her son belongs to God. She kept her promise. We read:

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, ^[a] an ephah ^[b] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, "Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. (24-28)

Hannah learned not to be possessive. This does not mean she did not do her best in raising him. She did. She raised her son as best as she could. She also learned to give him back to God.

Abraham learned the same lesson. Isaac belongs to God. He is not mine.

Mary, mother of Jesus learned the same thing, Jesus is not hers.

What I am saying to you, mothers and fathers, we need to learn that nothing belongs to us in this world, nothing.

I know so many possessive mothers; their love is not constructive to their children. Mothers who are so attached to their children that they do not allow them to go and grow.

Let us be cautious. Dedicate your child to God. Otherwise the world is ready to grab them.

I keep hearing from some mothers, or parents who like to raise their child open minded- open to all ideologies and religions. They are worrying about sending their children to Sunday School or summer camps. Some mothers want their children to be raised without Christian teaching so that one day they can choose what they want to believe in.

I tell you, we should raise our children with Christian principles; we should also tell them about the world that they are living in it. But not on the expense of Christian education. Some believe if they have time then Christian education .

Hannah had different priorities.

Let us conclude today’s message.

Hannah had a problem. Her husband was an understanding man of God, who listened to her and tried to help.

Hannah went to God. God answered her with a son. She raised him and kept her promise to give him back to God.

Today, Mothers and fathers. Let us examine ourselves. Let us dedicate our lives, our children and our time to God. He will guide us.

Whose is your child: yours or God’s?