1 Samuel 1: Overcoming Emotional Trauma

"Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving.  Whenever she went up to the Lord's house, her rival taunted her in this way every year.  Hannah wept and would not eat."

1 Samuel 1:6-7

This is the story of a woman who is not her husband's only wife.  She is the favorite, but she hasn't been able to give the husband any children.  While this could be used as another argument against polygamy, instead I'd like to focus on the discussion of emotional bullying, which is every bit as devastating as physical abuse.  

Do you remember your school-days, when classmates would bicker and argue and bully each other over the smallest things?  Do you remember the people who would scoff just to see the outcry of the other's reaction?  Were you ever the person who was being bullied?  Were you ever the person doing the bullying?

How do you overcome something like this?  

"Eli responded, 'Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him.'"

1 Samuel 1:17

Is it really that simple?  Can you really just "Go in peace" and expect everything to be better?  With God, yes.  As a teacher, I know firsthand the importance of reassuring an individual who is being teased.  I see it literally every day - once I the child sees that the teaser's statements are false (or if true, they're given out of jealousy), the problem almost instantly fades away.  There is always lingering doubt as well as the fear of it continuing, but the faith that someone stronger and more mature thinks differently is almost always all it takes for a child to overcome emotional bullying as well as other feelings of insignificance.

Question of the Day:

How much more, if it's the Word of God telling you that you're great and that the deceiver's accusations are false?  How much more, if it's the Lord's own voice telling you how jealous the deceiver is of your position?

Prayer of the Day:

Lord, thank You for lifting me up emotionally and ridding me of the fear of worldly insignificance.  Thank You for giving me significance in Your family, in Your Kingdom, and in the world You Created.  Thank You for giving me faith to trust in Your Word over the voice of the world around me.  Thank You for giving me a purpose which surpasses what the world thinks is possible.  Thank You for sharing Your Spirit with me so that the impossible has become possible.  Amen.