Russ Waldrop / "From the Pulpit"
Published: May 8, 2008

We have a dim view of “bargaining with God,” and rightly so. All too often we want to bargain God into something or ourselves out of something; maybe both at the same time.
The catch is that, when God does accept our bargain and does what we asked him to do, we begin to forget our end of the bargain that we initiated. Does this mean that we should never offer bargains to God? Maybe not. There’s a Biblical example of a woman who offered a bargain to God and who kept her part of it after God kept his part. Her story is found throughout First Samuel, especially the first three chapters.
Hannah knew what she wanted from God — she wanted to have a baby. She had her motives, of course. Her husband’s other wife, Penny, had delivered several children and she often taunted Hannah about her barrenness, making her feel ashamed. Year after year, especially during religious services, Penny humiliated Hannah by her constant reminders, like, “It’s time for me to feed the children now; they’re all mine, of course.”
Hannah’s maternal grief led to lengthy episodes of unrestrained crying and a possible eating disorder. Her husband tried to console her, but could not (1 Sam. 1:7-10), all symptoms seen today in severe grief reactions. Was there more to Hannah than grief?
The ultimate insult to Hannah came, not from Penny, but from the family’s minister, Eli, priest of the Temple satellite in Shiloh. He noticed how rapidly her lips moved during prayer and accused her of public drunkenness during worship. Insulted as she was by this, she confronted Eli at length about his inappropriate response to her. Moved by her conviction, he recanted, blessed her and prayed with her that her undisclosed prayer be answered. It was. (A surprisingly intimate description of how her pregnancy occurred is recorded in First Samuel 1:19-20).
Following the birth of her child, whom she named Samuel, Hannah took him back to Eli, the priest who had falsely accused her. “Excuse me, sir,” she said, “Remember me? I’m the woman you saw here praying for this child” (1st Sam. 1:26-27). Had she come to gloat, to throw his previously skeptical and unprofessional behavior in his face, to give him a well-deserved “comeuppance”? No. She was here to carry out her part of the bargain she had made with God.
She continued, “God gave me what I asked for and now I am dedicating my son, Samuel, to Him. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:27-28). Then Hannah and Eli, still remorseful for having doubted this mother’s faith, worshipped the Lord together in the very setting where her prayer for motherhood was answered.
Hannah left Samuel there in the temple where he grew up under Eli’s pastoral care and supervision. Of course, she and her husband visited regularly and worshipped with Samuel and the priest. Eventually, Samuel became God’s chief prophet and served his country well for decades. Hannah fulfilled her part of the bargain she offered to God.
Hannah and her husband had three more sons and two more daughters. Surely, God more than fulfilled his part of the bargain he accepted from Hannah.
Many mothers today dedicate their children to God and raise them accordingly. None do it perfectly, of course, and most do it with varying degrees of success. Hannah is an example of mothers who offer to God a bargain so good that he just can’t refuse it. Didn’t yours?
The Rev. Russell G. Waldrop, D. Min., LPC, is a pastoral counselor and is chaplain of Western State Hospital. Contact him at 540-332-8004 or at .