Blessed To Be A Blessing — Gifts We Give God

A Mother’s Day Reflection from the Life of Hannah

1 Samuel 1–2

When I think about Mother’s Day, I often find myself reflecting on my childhood and

remembering the countless things my mother did for our family that we rarely appreciated at

the time.

My mother is Dutch, organized, and very much a neat freak. Honestly, with eight children

running through the house, I’m not sure how she survived.

Laundry was never-ending in our home. We would throw piles of clothes together for Mom to

sort and wash, and somehow, instead of helping, we usually made things worse. My brothers

and sisters and I would actually jump into the piles of clean or sorted laundry, scattering

clothes everywhere while my mother tried desperately to keep order in the middle of chaos.

We ran in and out of the front and back doors all day long, leaving a trail of destruction behind

us—dirt on the floors, shoes scattered everywhere, wet towels tossed aside, dishes left

behind.

And somehow, my mother kept serving.

As children, we rarely stopped to think about how exhausting that must have been. We simply

assumed the laundry would be folded, the meals would appear, the house would function, and

somehow Mom would always be there holding everything together.

The older I get, the more I realize that many of the greatest acts of love happen in ordinary

moments that nobody applauds.

That is one reason the story of Hannah speaks so powerfully to us today.

Hannah demonstrated both persistence and obedience—two hallmarks of genuine faith.

The Silent Pain of Hannah

Hannah was deeply loved by her husband, Elkanah, yet she carried enormous pain because

she could not bear children.

In that culture, infertility was not merely a private disappointment—it often became a public

sorrow.

Then there was Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, who continually provoked Hannah. Every

child Peninnah held became another reminder of what Hannah longed for but could not have.

Yet what is remarkable is that Hannah did not become bitter.

Hurting people often become hardened people—but Hannah did not.

Instead of attacking Peninnah, Hannah carried her pain to God.

That is one of the great lessons from her life: pain can either harden the heart or deepen the

soul.

Isn’t it amazing how God can transform pain into joy?

Lesson One — God Hears the Honest Cry of a Surrendered Heart

In 1 Samuel 1, we see Hannah pouring out her soul before the Lord. Her lips moved, but no

words came out. She was praying from the deepest place of her heart.

Eli misunderstood her and accused her of being drunk. But what Eli failed to recognize, God

fully understood.

Sometimes churches misread broken people.

Sometimes spiritual leaders become more skilled at managing appearances than discerning

hearts.

But God sees hidden tears, silent prayers, exhausted mothers, and faithful people carrying unseen burdens.

Hannah teaches us that some of the holiest prayers are prayed silently through tears.

D. L. Moody once said:

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”

Hannah became one of those kneeling figures in Scripture.

People may misunderstand your struggle, but God never misunderstands your prayer.

It makes you wonder how much we might miss if we are not persistent in our prayer life.

And perhaps this is a good place for a little humor. Someone once asked why the Mexican

archer had trouble hitting his target. The answer? Because he didn’t “habanero.”

There is something beautiful in this love story between a husband and wife. It reminds us,

men, how we should treat the women in our lives—especially our wives. It also reminds us that

our value is not based on what we produce, accomplish, or achieve. Our value comes from the

simple truth that we are created by God.

Lesson Two — A Blessed Life Learns to Release God’s Gifts Back to Him

After God answered Hannah’s prayer and gave her Samuel, she did something extraordinary.

She gave him back to God.

That is the heart of this message: Blessed To Be A Blessing.

Samuel was not merely a gift to Hannah—he became a gift through Hannah.

True worship begins when we stop clinging to what already belongs to God.

John Wesley once wrote:

“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God… andthey alone will shake the gates of hell.”

Samuel would become one of those spiritual voices because a mother first surrendered him to

God.

Mothers Shape Generations

Long before Samuel stood publicly as a prophet, he was shaped privately through the faith of

his mother.

Quiet faithfulness leaves eternal fingerprints.

Many mothers wonder if their sacrifices matter.

Hannah reminds us that they do.

Some of the greatest spiritual leaders in history first learned faith from a praying mother.

Abraham Lincoln famously said:

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

The prayers of mothers echo longer than we often realize.

The Song of Hannah — Worship After the Struggle

The story of Hannah does not end in bitterness. It ends in worship.

First Samuel 2 records what is often called The Song of Hannah. The woman who once

prayed silently now lifts her voice publicly in praise.

Her worship teaches us that God lifts the humble, remembers broken people, honors

surrendered hearts, and reverses impossible situations.

Some of the deepest worship in Scripture came from people who first wept before they sang.

There is something beautiful about a believer who can still worship after disappointment, grief,and waiting.

Conclusion

Hannah’s story reminds us that when God blesses our lives, He often invites us to become a

blessing in return.

The gifts we give God are not always material things. Sometimes they are our prayers, our

trust, our surrender, our worship, our children, our service, and our willingness to say:

“Lord, everything I have ultimately belongs to You.”

Because sometimes the greatest gift we give God… is surrender.

Hannah’s story began with silent tears, misunderstanding, and longing. But it ended with

worship, surrender, and testimony.

The same God who heard Hannah still hears the cries of His people today.

Blessed To Be A Blessing — Gifts We Give God

Prepared for sermon and blog development by Rev. Rick Carder

Surprising Serendipitous.

When God Interrupts Your Agenda!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5–6

This week I spent nearly twenty-two hours on the road traveling between appointments. After a while, long stretches of highway can begin to feel exhausting and unproductive. There are moments when you wonder if all those hours behind the wheel are simply lost time.

But God has a remarkable way of redeeming what we often consider wasted moments.

Somewhere northeast of Lansing, Michigan, I realized I had missed a turn. Rather than continuing on, I pulled into a nearby parking lot to regroup and turn around. What I did not realize at the time was that this simple interruption would become one of those surprising reminders that God often works through unexpected detours.

The parking lot belonged to a small antique mall filled with fascinating pieces of history and nostalgia. As I walked through the displays, one item immediately caught my attention—a vintage movie reel. Upon closer inspection, I realized it appeared to be an authentic reel once used in theaters during the 1950s or 1960s for projecting 35mm films.

As someone who appreciates history and storytelling, I was intrigued.

While I was examining it, a man approached me and struck up a conversation. He had a booth inside the antique mall selling some of his own items, though the movie reel itself was not part of his collection. He asked what I planned to do with it, and I explained that I hoped to give it as a gift to someone who collects vintage movie memorabilia.

To my surprise, he smiled and said, “In that case, let me buy it for you.”

I laughed at first, assuming he was joking, but he insisted. He walked inside, paid for the reel himself, and handed it to me as a gift.

What a surprise.

Of course, that led to an even longer conversation. As we talked, I learned that he had once lived in Los Angeles and had worked around the film industry during the 1990s. He explained that he never played major roles, but he had appeared as an extra in several productions—including some familiar television shows like Knight Rider and others from that era.

It was fascinating to hear his stories—not because he was famous, but because his life reflected the unexpected paths people travel.

What interested me even more was what he is doing today. He now produces music and is involved in encouraging people to perform acts of kindness. His mission is simple yet powerful:

inspire one million people to record and share random acts of kindness through an online movement.

And there I stood—having only stopped because I missed a turn.

What began as frustration became inspiration.

That experience stayed with me because it reminded me how often God works through interruptions we never planned for. We tend to view interruptions as inconveniences. Delays frustrate us. Wrong turns annoy us. Unexpected stops feel like obstacles to productivity.

Yet sometimes God does His best work in the moments we never scheduled.

A friend of mine shared a recent experience that he had on the road. He was traveling and ended up with a flat tire. It turned out that a very large spike was driven through his tire and he needed to get it repaired. Taking it to the closest repair shop he was able to have an incredible conversation with a young man behind the counter. As he shared his faith, the young man began to ask about how to receive Jesus.

That young man came to faith in Christ because of an interruption and busy man’s life. Something that was inconvenient, turned into something that was of eternal consequence in the lives of another. The image shows you the man’s hand. He said there’s a small scar that is hardly visible on his hand, but in the 60s he was drinking alcohol and ended up in a crash. At 70 miles an hour he flew through the car window and caught a cattle fence. I interrupted him by clarifying and asking him, “You know those barbed wire type fences?”

Indeed! Had he been thrown through the fence he would’ve not survived, but somehow his body went between the Barbwire at a high rate of speed. His hand is what caught the fence. He survived, of course with a miraculous story. He grew up in church, but did not know Christ, but it was a turning point for him, and now he has spent almost all of his remaining years, telling others about Jesus!

How many divine appointments have we nearly missed because we were too focused on getting back to our agenda?

Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”

The truth is, we often lean heavily upon our own understanding. We map out our schedules, establish priorities, and determine how the day should unfold. But God, in His wisdom, occasionally interrupts our plans—not to harm us, but to redirect us toward something we would have otherwise overlooked.

Sometimes a missed turn becomes a meaningful conversation.

Sometimes a delay becomes a divine encounter.

Sometimes a detour becomes a lesson we desperately needed.

The older I get, the more I realize that some of the richest moments in life are not found in carefully managed schedules, but in surprising serendipitous moments where God gently reminds us that He is still directing our paths.

Moses experienced it at a burning bush.

Mary experienced it through an angelic announcement.

Paul experienced it on the Damascus Road.

None of them planned the interruption.

But every interruption became part of God’s greater purpose.

Perhaps that is why faith requires us not only to trust God in the destination, but also in the detours.

The interruption may not make sense in the moment. The delay may feel frustrating. The wrong turn may seem inconvenient.

But God sees what we cannot.

And sometimes the moments we almost resent become the very moments we later treasure most.

This week, somewhere near a small antique mall northeast of Lansing, I was reminded once again:

God still surprises us by interrupting our agenda.

And often, His interruptions are far better than our plans.