Peninnah & Elkanah

     Today our story comes from I Samuel Chapter 1-2.
     This morning my heart was filled with all sorts of emotions due to the "stress" I have been under these last few days.  I prayed for a clear message to hlep me through this, a light at the end of the tunnel.  God led me to the story of Peninnah and Elkanah.
     It is the story of an unknowingly insensitive husband, Elkanah, not of just one wife but two, Peninnah and Hannah.  Twice the chance for him to either cause trouble or get into it himself.  We don't know much about the kind of man he was but we do know he was oblivious to the turmoil around him.  Peninnah had given Elkanah many children yet she was jealous of Hannah because it says Hannah owned Elkanah's heart despite the fact that she had yet to bear him any children.  This is where God steps in.
     Althoug the events leading up to the birth of Samuel primarily involved Hannah, both Elkanah and Peninnah played significant roles.  Peninnah's competitiveness and derision drove Hannah to prayer, Elkanah's simple love allowed Hannah to entrust their first child, Samuel, into God's care.  Elkanah didn't realize how a little attention toward Peninnah could have cooled the simmering emotions in his home.  Nor did he understand that his love for Hannah didn't make up for the emptiness of her womb.
     The glimpse God gives us of that tense household provides a helpful backdrop for God's purposes, which human shortcomings cannot thwart.  He worked within the strain and stress of those relationships to bring Samuel-one of the most significant figures in the Old Testament-into the world.  When our relational systems seem too gnarled to be unraveled or salvaged, we need to remember that God displays his creativity not only by making things from scratch but also by bringing order and beauty out of messes.

Lessons From Their Lives:
-Ignorance is not a good excuse for insensitivity.
-Jealousy is not a good excuse for bad behavior.
-God works in the middle of family messes.

     So remember, you may be in the middle of a mess but God is there as well.  God can turn garbage into a masterpiece if you let him.

Have a BLESSED day and remember God loves you and so do I! :)