Be the Heroine in Your Own Love Story Part 2

Hannah (1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2)

What bound Elkanah’s heart to Hannah instead of to the wife who bore him many sons? The Bible doesn’t tell us about Hannah’s looks, only that she had no children and her husband loved her. In those days, a woman was seen as cursed by God if she didn’t have children. Bible scholars believe Hannah was a first wife, and when she proved to be barren, Elkanah took a second wife who gave him all the children he needed. Yet he still loved and valued Hannah. Peninnah’s jealous actions against Hannah give us a clue that he might have even loved the barren wife more than he did the fruitful one.

As a first wife, Hannah could have been brutal to Peninnah. Instead, she withstood the abuse heaped on her by her rival and chose not to lash out. In the depths of her despair, she went to the Lord in prayer. At a time of feasting and celebration, it might have been easy to indulge in drinking, as Eli the priest accused her of doing, and “forget” her troubles for a bit. But she was praying. Pouring out her heart to the one Person who could actually do something about her condition.

She could have become bitter. Turned against God for closing her womb. But her gentleness shines through the narrative. I can only imagine how this must have maintained Elkanah’s heart soft for her. Each year when he went up to offer sacrifices, he gave her a double portion. I’m not 100% sure what this means, and even Bible scholars don’t agree on the literal translation of the term from the original language. Maybe he hoped God would open her womb. Or maybe, and most theologians agree, he was making a point of saying she mattered to him even without children. “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” he asks her. And since out of the mouth proceed the contents of one’s heart, we can assume that’s how he felt about her. She was worth more to him than ten sons. And for that culture and time period, that’s saying something!

Not only was she beloved of Elkanah but also honored by God. He gave her the son she begged Him for, and when she gave little Samuel back to the Lord, showing she was a woman of her word, God blessed her with five more children. Three sons and two daughters.

We live in a very different world. Society does not judge a woman’s worth by the amount of children she has. Quite the opposite. We are scrutinized for far more trivial things, and it can be easy to fall into a despair that breeds bitterness when we don’t measure up to society’s standards. But what man isn’t drawn by a meek and gentle spirit? To be clear, meekness does not mean weakness just as submission doesn’t mean doormat. I’m sure it took a lot of self-control for Hannah to not lash out at her husband’s shrewish second wife. And what admirable will-power for her to respond graciously to the priest when he accused her of being drunk when she was praying. A man worth having will prize the characteristics Hannah displayed more than the unrealistic, Hollywood-inspired beauty standards shoved down girls’ throats from the moment they come into this world. A godly man will value gentleness, kindness, and faithfulness more than a “perfect” figure or porcelain skin which fades with age.

Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine character traits it calls the fruit of the spirit.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Every Christian—man or woman—is encouraged to cultivate this fruit. Of those nine, Hannah displays seven right off the bat, with the other two, joy and peace, eventually coming to her. Now that’s a woman to look up to and emulate.