Stumbling into Strength

Reading of the Day: 1 Samuel 2-4

1 Samuel 2:4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

As we make our way through these chapters, we see how God raises the weak, yet humble, and brings down the ones in prideful positions. He always has a way of bringing hearts back into balance! This Scripture is a part of Hannah's prayer after she had Samuel her son & was no longer barren. She stumbled in weakness & honestly travailed in pain before even becoming pregnant with her son...and God brought her from a place of stumbling & suffering to strength, all because she poured herself out in prayer! But remember, as stated, God brings down the ones in prideful positions. As the Scripture says, the bows of the mighty men are broken. Eli the priest (who Hannah's son Samuel went to live with) had 2 sons of his own, and they took advantage of their positions. They used their God-given positions as servants of The Lord to be with different women who gathered outside the temple, and also to take the best meat of the sacrifices for themselves rather than giving that to God. Eli did not do much to stop them, although he warned them & did not like what they were doing. They may have had a position or status, but their hearts were far from God! It's not the position you have which makes you blessed, but it's God Who raises the humble to their positions as God sees their hearts draw close to Him. So, this Scripture is one we see from both perspectives in these chapters. We may feel weak, tired, or that we are just stumbling along...but if we are stumbling toward God & not toward sinful stumbling blocks, then we will soon find our strength in Him! Just like Hannah, who stumbled weakly toward the temple of God, knowing there were those who judged her for being barren. She still walked toward God and eventually received her miracle! Meanwhile, those who already resided at the temple did not reverence God as they should, and we see that they also were brought very low-they lost their lives! Let's remember that even if we are stumbling, we are still making progress as long as we are stumbling toward Jesus our Strength: Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."