Our hearts are the drivers of all that we do in life. If a person has a lion’s or a weak heart, it is easy to tell; on the other hand, if one has a loving or wicked heart, it is easy to tell too. Whatever we do or do not do in this life, is a direct reflection of what is on-going in our hearts.
“I love you” is very easy to say, but the ‘litmus test’ is our actions. The acts of men tell us what is in their hearts. If what we say is not rooted in our hearts it will be very difficult to act on it for long…
Hannah, the wife of Elkannah, of the hill country of Ephraim (1Sam 1& 2) had a beautiful heart and a wonderful spirit. This lady was barren. Not only that, her husband’s second wife mocked and insulted her because of her condition. It was a trying season; in spite of her husband’s unconditional love for her. One day she poured out her heart to the Lord to give her a male child and she made an added vow to return the child to God for His service.
God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a male child. The pleasant surprise was that she actually returned this only child that the Lord gave her back to Him. It must have been tough to take that decision, but she did. In other words, when she made that vow in prayer, she actually meant it. Her heart was truly involved in the deal.
She took a risk and transacted with the Lord and in the end, God gave her three more boys and two girls! You can never go wrong when you do business with the Lord.
But how come most Christians do not get the kind of result that Hannah had? One reason is that our hearts are not right and our words are too far away from our hearts. We say what we do not mean and mean what we never say. This is confusing behaviour that creates confusing patterns in our lives. I am sure that sometimes, the Lord never bothers to honour our prayers or vows because He knows that it is not a heart-rooted request and He also knows we will never redeem our vows anyway!
How do I know? Ask your Senior Pastor or Church Administrator of the list of unredeemed vows and pledges in your church! God has tried some of us, time and time again, and we have fallen short of our own words. “Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance go forth from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.” (1 Sam 2:3, Amplified) These were the direct words of Hannah as she exalted the Lord. She understood that for a relationship to work with God or man, we must keep our promises and respect our words.
A man who cannot honour his own word or promise cannot be trusted. If you are in the habit of breaking your own word and breaking your own plans at will, you will automatically disregard the plans and words of others with the slightest excuse.
Hannah kept her word. And she kept faith with the Lord. She protected her bond with her Creator and in the end, she gained more… I covet a heart and strength like this.
I meditate on Hannah a lot…and Ruth, the Moabitess in the book of Ruth. These were women who not only kept their word, but also lauded commitment over feelings or immediate rewards. These were women who saw transactions through, just because they gave their word.
One gave her word to her God and the other to a fellow human being (Naomi, her mother-in-law) and they both saw their part of the transaction through.
I am not as concerned or focused on the inevitable rewards that followed their actions…that were given in the Lord. But my interest is in their strength of heart to see their role or part in a relationship through. This is a quality we must work towards having if we do not have it, as it is what makes our relationship with the Lord and with people prosper.