Her Adversary Also Provoked Her 1 Sam. 1:4-18 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Hannah’s Adversary
We know that the devil is our adversary. As such he opposes us in our relationship with the Lord. In 1 Sam 1, we see that he used Peninah as an adversary to Hannah, because Hannah was barren. Her adversary provoked her sore. The Devil can use others to provoke us. Today we are going to look at what happens in our lives when the adversary provokes us. The adversary takes a bad situation and makes it worse by provoking you.
When the Adversary Provoked Hannah, She Affected Her:
Spirit – 1 Sam 1:6-7. She fretted. The Lord had shut up her womb. And notice that her adversary provoked her particularly around the time that Hannah went up to the house of the Lord. Like Paul said, when I would do good, evil is present with me [Rom 7:21]. See 1 Sam 1:15-16. She had a sorrowful spirit; she was complaining and she was grieving.
Emotions – 1 Sam 1:7 – she wept. The adversary doesn’t only want you to worry and wear away with your trouble but he also wants to make you sad. He wants to depress you.
Appetite – 1 Sam 1:7 – she did not eat. Grief takes hold and you can’t eat.
Marriage – 1 Sam 1:8 – she couldn’t even answer her husband’s questions. There was nothing he could say that would comfort her.
Soul – 1 Sam 1:10 – she was bitter.
Testimony – 1 Sam 1:13-14 – Eli thought she was drunk. Others won’t be able to understand the depth of your sadness. They will think something is wrong with you.
When the Adversary Provoked Hannah, She Fought Back
She prayed – 1 Sam 1:10 – she took the matter to the Lord. He was the only one who could fix it.
She vowed – 1 Sam 1:11 – as it turns out the Lord wanted her to vow to give her son to Him. He needed a priest to replace Eli and his sons. When our prayers become fervent and effectual, and they line up with the will of God, then something good is going to happen.
She believed – 1 Sam 1:17-18 – She was comforted by the peace of God and by the answer of Eli that the Lord would grant her petition. After that, her appetite returned and she “was no more sad”.
Conclusion: you will find that when you attempt to draw close to the Lord you may encounter an adversary. All of these things that happened to Hannah can happen to you. And rather than cave in from being provoked, do what Hannah did.