God Remembers Us

1 Samuel
Chapter 1

I've made a deal with a special friend to read the Bible in Korean everyday for a month because she knows my Korean skills need some improving. We decided to read 1st and 2nd Samuel. Why did we choose that? No idea. I always enjoy sections in the Old Testament that have interesting narratives. Anyways, I know God will work in my heart during this time and I hope I am able to discern His voice. May God be glorified during this period.

I read the first chapter in Korean, digesting maybe 70% of what had happened. Therefore, I began to read the English version to clarify. Furthermore, when I found something of interest, I checked the Hebrew. Today the verse that really stuck out to me was verse 19, “They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.” “여호와께서 그를 생각하신지라.” You see those words a lot, “and the LORD remembered her.” I'm sure there is a rich description of this word throughout the Bible. I can think of the time when “God remembered Noah” (Ge 8:1), “he remembered Abraham” from Sodom and Gomorrah (Ge 19:29), “God remembered Rachel” (Ge 30:22), and the Psalmist (136:23) says, “He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.”

A simple verb with such strong connotations. God's Love is so evident in this passage. Hannah, no doubt had felt the pain of being mocked by Peninnah. There are people in this world who God allows for them to throw arrows of ridicule, shame, and guilt. They are Satan's agents to strip away the joy that is in knowing Christ. But God uses this situation to bring about good. In the midst of all the distress and pain, God remembered Hannah. His eyes were glued to her and He was watching her every footstep. Even when she felt that God was far away from her (when she prayed unceasingly to the Lord), God was working out the sanctification of Hannah through this suffering. I've had a very similar situation happen to me recently.

To those of you who know me, I've learned first-hand what it means to feel as if God is distant and far away. During that period, I was also troubled in spirit. I did not know what to do with myself. But God used that uncomfortable situation to get me to turn all my prayers to Him alone. In the end, when we have no where else to turn, we can only hold tighter to the God who made us and gave us life. This was God's plan for Hannah and me.

Are you going through some tough situation? Perhaps a nasty divorce, a horrific accident, or the passing of a loved one? Maybe you have Peninnahs in your life that give rise to anger, shame, and bitterness. Let us remember that God remembers us. He is thinking of us forever and He will never ignore the cries of the lowly who are kneeling down in prayer. These are times for us to seek Him more and grow in our deep appreciation of the Creator of the world.