Book Review ~ Voices of the True Woman Movement, Chapter 5

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Chapter 5 - A Woman After God's Own Heart

by Janet Parshall

     One question Janet Parshall poses to us as Christian women in this chapter is this:  "Can you accept His will for your life right now, even if it's not what you want?"  I don't know about you but that's a hard question for me to honestly sit and ponder.  It's a struggle to answer, knowing my answer is less than godly.  Yet Hannah, Samuel's mother in the Bible, had a different answer.  

     This chapter caused me to see Hannah in a totally different light than I'd seen her in before.  I never really stopped to think about the huge sacrifice Hannah made.  The courage Hannah had was not of her own human conjuring.  For me, the giving up of any of my children would mean immense pain.  I'm sure Hannah experienced pain but she had the courage to follow through with the commitment she'd made to the Lord before Samuel was even conceived.

     A few quotes from the last portion of this chapter:

• Hannah's story teaches us what it means to be a true woman of God.  She let go of her own plans.  She knew that God was in charge, not her.  She believed Him enough to say yes even when desperation had caused her to go out of her comfort zone and ask for the unthinkable.
• Motherhood is actually one of God's refining fires.  The reality of motherhood is that it's a place to learn surrender, letting go, trusting and believing that God is God.
• True women, like Hannah, trust God enough to believe He has great things planned for the babies He has given us - babies we give back to Him for His use, His kingdom, His glory.

       These are convicting thoughts which made me consider how God's glory is being shown through my own life.  Although Hannah had no idea that her story would last this many generations, she was faithful anyway.  We can learn a lot from her courageous acts.

Trusting you're recognizing God's little kisses to you today!