As Peninnah mocked Hannah repeatedly, Elkanah was on hand to show all the love that Hannah needed. Elkanah asked, “Am I not better to you than ten sons”? Elkanah sought to become Hannah’s satisfaction in the absence of sons; Elkanah tried to make Hannah comfortable in the midst of her barrenness; Elkanah tried to make Hannah to see him as a replacement for her ten sons. It was a love that offered present comfort.
Hannah had the potential to have children, and all that happened was because God had shut her womb. When God would eventually open her womb, she gave birth to a generational icon in the person of Samuel. She had more children after Samuel. So she had a future, not in barrenness but in fruitfulness. So the show of love from Elkanah simply satisfied the present situation of Hannah but was a clear negation of her God ordained future.
Friend, be mindful not to wallow in a show of love that will rob you of the future that should become your reality soon. Don’t make the mistake of accepting a level of comfort from close quarters that will hinder your ability or quench your thirst for the greater future of your dreams. Don’t let anyone lovingly talk you out of your unfulfilled expectations. Don’t let anyone use their kind words to cast a cloud over your potentials.
There was no way Elkanah was going to be both a husband and ten sons to the same woman. There was no need for a woman who had the capacity to have children to be talked into abandoning her desires. Don’t give up on your desires because someone thinks you should; if God has ordained it, He is able to make it happen if you don’t lose your faith; if you keep expecting it, it will come to pass in a matter of time.
Be careful when the Elkanah’s of this world want to become a replacement for that desire of yours that is yet unfulfilled. No Elkanah should take the place of your Samuel. No show of love should replace your results.
