Investing In Life

“Then Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in Your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God.’” – 1 Samuel 2:1-2. 

The stock market garners a whole lot of attention. No matter what media you follow, the stock market will be a topic at some point during the day. Some people will watch the stock market to see how much money they made, while others will tune in to see how much they lost. But even if you don’t make monetary investments in stocks, you can still be an active investor in many areas of life. Every action, every attitude, every activity is an Investment in something. And it will reap dividends one day, good or bad. 

When it comes to investing money, most of us are pretty careful. If you’re like me, you don’t have more money than you know what to do with, and so you’re cautious about entrusting it to an unknown person or company that promises you a profit. But, it’s amazing that while people are careful about investing their money, they are often very haphazard about investing their lives. They give little thought to investing their lives with God, and in others.

One Biblical character that was a wise investor is Hannah. Hannah was a woman well acquainted with the struggle to become a mother, and the heartache involved, and yet, she was able to come to peace with things well before she gave birth to her first son Samuel. Her faith in God remained the same despite what she was going through.

Hannah chose to give her child back to God. She made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” (1 Samuel 1:11) This should not be seen as bargaining on the part of Hannah, but she was promising to offer her best to the Lord as a result of His answer to her prayer. Had she prayed to win the lottery, her vow was that she would have given the entire prize back to God, keeping nothing for herself. Her response to God’s answer to her prayer in chapter 2 is key for us today.   

Hannah made a wise investment that paid dividends for years to come as Samuel served God.     

Discussion Questions:

1. Who or what are you investing in?
2. What can we do this week to better invest our lives for God?