Who are you Attached to?

I’ve been reading through 1 Samuel during my times with the Lord in the mornings. He has been speaking to me A LOT about A LOT of stuff. Do you have lots of stuff that needs to be spoken to by the Lord? I think if we’re all honest with ourselves, we all have areas in our lives that could use a little tiding up!

Let me give you a little background to 1 Samuel 1. Elkanah, Hannah, his wife, and Peninnah, his other wife, have traveled to house of the Lord for their yearly offering of sacrifice and worship. Hannah’s heart is deeply burdened because her womb is barren. Peninnah is constantly taunting Hannah causing her more grief. And Elkanah, well, bless his heart, he is pretty much clueless to what’s going on.

As I read through this chapter, I was struck by what verse 10 says. Hannah approached the LORD in prayer with a heart that was bitter. Two things God revealed to me in this verse.
God wants us to come to Him as we are. No facades. No masks. He wants up front, honest, realness (is that a word?). After all, He is God and already knows the true condition of our hearts, so why not let it all hang out.

Yes, Hannah was bitter, but she didn’t unload her bitterness on those around her expecting them to solve her problems. She took that bitterness to God, knowing and believing that He was the One to handle the situation.

Hannah’s heart was grieved to the very core of her being. Her husband didn’t know how to comfort her, Peninnah, the other wife, taunted her, and the priest thought her ramblings were a result of her being drunk. What was Hannah to do? How would she make it through this difficult time? Here’s what she did. She went before the Lord and poured out her heart at His feet. She had faith and great trust in her God; she knew He would comfort her, love her, and meet her needs- and He wouldn’t think she was crazy or drunk.

“I have… poured out my soul before the LORD.” 1 Samuel 1:15b, NKJV

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8, NKJV

To trust in God means that one has literally attached oneself to Him. It means that through the good times, the bad times, and those times of uncertainty- when all those around us have turned their backs- we can make it through the valley because we are attached to God and He will carry us if need be.

When I was growing up we had a black lab named Jake. He was notorious for catching opossums, bringing them up on the porch, and leaving them, alive mind you, there for us to enjoy. How sweet of him. On one particular occasion, Jake brought home a momma opossum that had babies. These babies were attached to their momma’s belly. I remember going out on the porch with my dad to get a better look at the babies. It is true that opossums do really play dead so we were able to do this. We knelt down beside the momma and my dad tried to pick up one of the babies. He grabbed it and began pulling, but nothing happened. He gave a few more tugs, but still nothing. It was like those babies had been sown to their momma’s belly. They were literally attached to their momma; there was no way they were coming off. These babies needed to be attached to her because she was their lifeline; without her they would die.

You and I must be so attached to God that no storm can pull us away, no attack from the enemy can loosen our grip, and no person can sever our connection to our lifeline, because like those baby opossums, without our lifeline, we will die. Hannah had attached herself to the only One who would be able to sustain her during this time.

Hannah’s heart was bitter and her heart was grieved, but she didn’t take that bitterness and grief to those around her. She took her hurting heart to the Lord and gave it all to Him. She poured out, literally spilled forth, her soul to Him. To put it in our language, she spilled the beans to the One who could heal her heart and truly understand her pain. Don’t get me wrong- we need people who we can talk to and confide in- people who will listen and offer, not their opinion, but Godly wisdom. But, we must guard against attaching ourselves to them- they are not God. Like Hannah, we must attach ourselves to God Almighty and spill the beans to Him. He is the only One who can mend all our wounds, turn our mourning into dancing, and put a new song of gladness into our hearts.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER
Who have you attached yourself to?
Who are you trusting in?
Who are you spilling the beans to?

Attach yourself to God. Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.