Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When Quick Fixes Fail | Historical Books | 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Are you a fixer? Do you give advice before it's requested? Are you uncomfortable living in the tension? In today's episode, Jensen looks at 1 Samuel 1:1-20, reminding us that God is in control, and he doesn't always fix things as quick as we'd like. If you're listening on Spotify, comment below one takeaway from today's episode! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. I'm a fixer, a control freak. I don't enjoy sitting in the tension of stress, of discomfort, of the unknown, or the difficult. So I don't. I fix it and fast. If I'm thinking about something too much, if I want something done and it's taking too long, you better believe I'm going to come up with a solution to the problem. a plan of action, execute it, and move right on out of that tension. Which is why, as I read the first 20 verses of 1 Samuel, the story of Samuel's unlikely birth, I found myself focused and challenged by a person in this story that is more of a supporting character. Now, you see, we could look at Hannah and her faith, her longing, her desires, her prayers to God, and we will. But this time, as I read,

I was really struck by the actions and motivations of Elkanah, Hannah's husband, Samuel's father. So, humor me today, and let's walk through these first 20 verses, examining them from the perspective of Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives. One was called Hannah and the other, Penina. Penina had children, but Hannah had none. year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the lord almighty at shiloh where hopney and phineas the two sons of eli were priests of the lord whenever the day came for elkanah to sacrifice he would give portions of the meat to his wife penina and to all her sons and daughters but to hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her and the lord had closed her womb so what do we learn about Elkanah from these first five verses. Well, first, we learn that he has two wives, but one of them is

barren. That's Hannah. We then learn that he's a faithful Israelite. He travels with his family year after year to worship God and to make sacrifices to him. He seems to have a faith of his own, a genuine faith. We then learn from the final verse that Elkanah has greater love for Hannah, and that the reason for her barrenness was that the Lord had closed her womb. Now, we could move on, but I want to notice some underlying things that we can learn that maybe aren't explicitly stated in the text. Now, first is that most likely Hannah was his first wife, the one that he loves more, but due to her barrenness, Elkanah takes on a second wife. Not because he doesn't love Hannah, but because he needs an heir. In his culture, in this time, having a child was imperative to the passing on of your wealth.

And from the story, we can gather that Alcana was doing well for himself. He was prosperous enough to afford a second wife to ensure an heir. He saw a problem. He came up with a solution and he took matters into his own hands. Now, this isn't the first time an Israelite has taken the same road. If you remember, Abraham, the husband of Sarah, promised by God to become a great nation, did not sit in the tension of the promise from God and the barrenness of his wife. Instead, he acted. With his wife's encouragement, he bore a child with her servant so that his line would

continue. But just as with Abraham, this quick fix that Alcana turns to, his solution to the tension, in turn, produces trouble of another kind. Verse 6. Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on, year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Penina provokes Hannah, taunts her. We don't have all the details, but year after year, Hannah is moved to tears. The pain of her reality and the taunts are unbearable. And then we read next the response of her husband to Hannah's distress. This is Elkhanna. Her husband Elkanah would say to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than 10 sons? Do you hear it?

He questions why is she still sad? He misunderstands her desire for having a son. His motivation to secure an heir has been fixed. Now they could be happy together. She hasn't let them down. He fixed the problem. He took action. But he fails to see how his solution has caused greater distressed for his wife and has really failed to fix the problem. You see, we later read of Hannah at the temple praying to the Lord to hear her plea for a son, and this is what we read. In her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly, and she made a vow saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant, but give her a son. Then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no raise

will ever be used on his head. Later, we read of the emotion behind this prayer when Hannah says, I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief. Hannah saw beyond the cultural and social problems that her barrenness created and also saw the theological implications. All the way back in Genesis 315, God promised that through the seed of the woman, through the line of Eve, would come one who would defeat the evil one and rescue his people. It was through God's people, through a child, that this rescue would come. And so while Hannah surely wept for her own desires to have children, there would also have been sadness in her inability to participate in this way, that the coming of a savior of the

Messiah might be hindered because of her barrenness. And so she turned to her. And so she turned to her, to God, and she commits to give this son that she longs for over to him, for his purposes, not for her own good and glory, but for the good and glory of God. Hannah looks to God, puts her hope in God to deliver, to use her, shows her genuine trust by saying, if you allow me this mercy, I will lay this gift back at your feet. Not my will, God, not for my good, but for your glory. You can hear the trust, the selfless request, the surrender to the will of God. And we read after an encounter with a priest Eli that God grants her her request. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah and the Lord remembered her.

So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to his son. She named him Samuel, saying, Because I asked the Lord for him. Despite Elkanah's best efforts to control and calm the tension, it is Hannah's faithful endurance in the pain in the mess. It is her surrender of the control and request that moves God to produce a son. A son that we will see play an integral part in the transition of the nation of Israel as they come under the leadership of a king. Elkanah's solution and his quick fix are rendered useless. More than that, they end up causing more harm and grief to his family than if he had had the faith and surrender that Hannah did. Now, this isn't to say that Hannah is perfect and that Elkhanna is a failure. We'll see that Hannah

doesn't always get things right, and we know that despite his missteps, Elkanah is attempting to live a faithful life. What we can learn from this story is that deep within all of us is a desire to ease the tension, to take the path of least resistance, to take control and solve our own problems. We believe the goal is to rid ourselves of tension, and it's up to us to see it done. But when we do this, when we find quick fixes, when we take control, we fail to acknowledge and account for a very real truth. God is in control. He is telling a big story that is larger and far greater than we can imagine and his goals are not the same as ours. Where we want to run from tension, Scripture tells us that in the midst of trial and adversity, grace and growth can bound. Think of Joseph, his life of pain being sold into slavery by family, thrown into jail,

all so that God could use him to rescue his people. Where we expect the best solution to be a quick fix or an immediate fix, we see precedent of God leaving unanswered prayer for the benefit and renewal of his people. Think of Paul, with the continued thorn in his flesh, causing him pain, but keeping him faithful and humble and dependent on the strength of God. The temptation to find a quick fix, to take control, to ease the tension as quickly as possible, apart from the wisdom, grace, and mercy of God can be a dangerous road. What if the next time that you feel the tension, the discomfort, the pain caused by an affliction that you're facing, what if instead of problem-solving, instead of trying to rid

yourself of the tension as quickly as possible, what if you just brought that pain to God? What if you, like Hannah, laid bare the pain and tension and gave it over to the Lord? Vowed to give your desires over to him for his glory to be used for the story and plan that he is writing? How would that change you? Change the way you saw the tension. Change the way you lived in the middle of it. Now, I don't think it would fix it, but maybe that isn't the point. maybe the point is to hand over control, to hold our lives, our plans, our expectations,

our hopes with open hands, and slowly allow God to replace them with his own, to allow him to guide our steps, to give him not just a seat at the table, but the reins of our life. It all comes down to this. Do you trust God to use the messy, uncomfortable, painful parts of your life for his glory and for the advancement of his plans, his story, and his kingdom. And is that enough for you? Do you want his desires, his plans for your life to match your reality? Now, if the answer is no or I wish, but if I'm honest, not really, that's okay. Bring your honest answer to God today. Ask him to work in your heart, to slowly open your hands, to release your control, loosen your grip and to be present with you in the tension. Let him be your comfort. Let him be your

guide. Not your solution, not your own plans, but his good and perfect will as king over your life and all of creation.