January 27, 2008

Where Are You Looking?

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Most historians consider Abraham Lincoln one of our greatest presidents. He was elected president at the age of 51 and held the country together during the long dark days of the Civil War. We consider Abraham Lincoln a great success but he considered himself a failure. He considered himself a failure because he knew disappointed and frustration first hand. Consider these facts.

At 7 his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality.

At 9 his mother died.

At 22 he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school but he lacked the education.

At 23 he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.

At 26 his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay.

At 28, after courting a girl for four years he asked her to marry him. She said no.

At 37, on his third try, he was elected to the US Congress, but two years later he failed to be re-elected.

At 41 his four-year-old son died.

At 45 he ran for the Senate and lost.

At 47 he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.

Those disappointments took a toll on his life and he saw himself a failure. There came a point in his life when his friends found it best to remove any sharp objects. In his own words he wrote, “I am the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I can not tell. I am afraid I will not.” We consider Abraham Lincoln a great success but he considered himself a great failure. Let me ask you this difficult question today.

Have you ever felt like a failure? I am not talking about how others view you. I am talking about how you see yourself. Have you ever felt like a failure? Do you feel like a failure in your professional life? Your dreams and your reality never came close. One day your career turned into a job, one you hate. Have you ever felt like you missed God’s purpose for your life? Do you feel like a failure in your professional life? Do you feel like a failure in your personal life? Your brothers and your sisters have a bigger house than you. Are you afraid the person next to you will discover how many times you have been married? Or is the biggest secret in your life the balance on your credit cards? Have you gotten a letter from the Internal Revenue Service lately? Have you ever felt like a failure because you never have a good hair day or your hips are too big? Do you feel like a failure as a parent or a grandparent? Do you feel like a failure because you can never find the right words? Have you ever felt like a failure because you can’t give your family everything they want? Have you ever felt like a failure?

Today, we look at one of the great women in the Bible. Her name was Hannah. We view her as a success! She was the mother of Samuel, one of the greatest personalities of the Old Testament. He held the powerful position of judge! Let me state the obvious. Hannah had a positive influence on her son’s life and thousands of years later we remember her as a great person. However, like Abraham Lincoln, there was a time in her life when she saw herself as a great failure. Do you remember the old story?

We are in the very first chapter of First Samuel. We are told in the first verse that Hannah was married to a man named of Elkanah. Verse two tells us he had two wives! (My question is, “why?”) That sounds shocking to our ears but was fairly common in those days. Polygamy was permitted for several reasons. The main reason was it assured the man’s name would remain alive. Those were not the days of modern science. Those were the days of superstition. The first wife was blamed so a second wife was taken. This seems to be the case in this story. One of his wives had children. The other wife had none. Hannah’s inability to produce a son made her feel like a failure. Hannah’s story reminds us that there are many who feel incomplete and inadequate.

Have you ever felt like a failure? When you feel like a failure you are studying the details of your life. Let’s be honest. The details of our lives are not always perfect. When you study the details it is impossible to see the big picture. My challenge for you today is to look at the big picture of your life. When you do that you will find your attitude changing about yourself. Perhaps, this is the day that you will move from feeling like a failure to feeling like a success! Today, I am going to ask you to stop looking at the details of your life and look at something new. The first thing you need to do is look away. The second thing you need to do is look above. The third thing you need to do is look ahead. Each one is illustrated in Hannah’s story. So if you are ready to make the transformation from failure to success say, “Amen!” This is the first thing I am going to ask you to do.

Look Away

Annually Hannah went to Shiloh with her husband and her rival. It was only fifteen miles from their home. Shiloh was a significant place because that was where the Ark of the Covenant was located. They went there annually. It was a time of worship and sacrifice to God. For most it was a happy time but for Hannah it was a painful time. Hannah traveled alone but her rival traveled with her children. Hannah heard her rival’s children laugh and compared it to the emptiness of her day. To emphasize her emptiness her rival harasses her to tears. Hannah was looking inward and she should have been looking away. How much time do you spend examining your own life? If you want to be unhappy then spend as much time as possible looking at the details of your life. How many unhappy people do you know? How many people do you know who like being unhappy?

An anonymous writer suggested ten things that will guarantee your unhappiness. How many do you do?

1. Make things bother you.

2. Lose your perspective on things. Don’t put first things first.

3. Worry about things that you can not control.

4. Be a perfectionist.

5. Be right all the time.

6. Don’t trust anything or anyone.

7. Always compare yourself unfavorably with others.

8. Take everything personally.

9. Don’t give yourself wholeheartedly to anyone.

10. Make unhappiness the theme of your life.

How many of those things do you do?

When you do those things you become out of balance. When you are consumed with yourself, other people’s opinions become too important. Hannah was driven to tears because of what other people said about her. When was the last time you were upset about what others said or thought about you? If there is one thing I have learned in the ministry it is you are not as good or as bad as they say. There are times when we need to look away.

Looking away is not escaping, avoiding or fleeing your critics. However, looking away shuts down opinions that are unfair. Hannah put too much weight on her rival’s words. How much time do you spend looking at yourself? How much time do you spend worrying about what other people are saying about you? There are times when we need to look away. If there are times when you need to look away then say, “Amen!” Point number one says to look away. This is point number two.

Look Above

In First Samuel 1:9-16, Hannah takes her trouble to the Lord. In other words, she looked up. She prayed with such conviction that the priest, Eli, thinks she is drunk. It is only natural to pray to God when life is bad. When was the last time you prayed to God when your life got hard?

I love the story of the old farmer who went to town one day. He drove his old pick-up truck and his old dog ran behind him. When the farmer got to town the dog was exhausted. The farmer’s friends gave him a hard time about the condition of his old dog. The farmer simply replied, “The dog is not tired out from running after me. He is tired from all the zigzagging. There wasn’t a gate or a hole he didn’t explore.” We have a lot of people like that old dog. How many are chasing the wrong thing in this world?

One of the great misunderstandings in our society today is that the church exists to complicate life with more rules and regulations. It is for that reason they stay away from the institutional church. Church only becomes part of their lives when life is hard. In desperation, they look for kind of miracle to help them. They completely misunderstand the church. Most of the time the miracle never occurs and they become disillusioned with the church. This is the truth. In the disciple-making process two things happen. First, the church teaches you how to control the controllable. If you could control the controllable, how many problems would you eliminate from your life? In other words, how many problems could be eliminated from your life, if you would have just made a better choice? The church teaches Biblical models so you can learn from someone else’s mistakes. Second, when the uncontrollable happens (disease and death) the church exists to give you a helping hand. The best friends you will ever make are church friends. They don’t care about what you own or what you can do. They only care about you!

Hannah looked above to God. She didn’t complain to her husband, a friend or the priest. She looked to God. I believe she teaches us to look to God through all of life, both the good and the bad. If you believe you need to look to God a little more every day then say, “Amen!” Point number one says to look away. Point number two says to look above. This is point number three.

Look Ahead

According to First Samuel 1:17-20, Eli gives Hannah some wise advice. He tells her to look ahead and don’t get stuck in the past. She doesn’t just hear his words; she applies them to her life! She takes his advice and moves forward. She gets something to eat. (Have you ever noticd when you are depressed you are not hungry?) She wipes that frown off her face and she lives her life! How many people do you know who are stuck in the past? This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

In December 1917 Thomas Edison's manufacturing facilities in West Orange, New Jersey were nearly completely destroyed by a fire. Edison lost nearly one million dollars in equipment and all of his notes on his work. The next morning the sixty-seven year old inventor surveyed the damage. After a period of silence he looked at a friend and said, “All of our mistakes and failures have burned up. Now we can start anew.” How you handle the disappointments in your life, says a great deal about you.

Are you stuck in the past or are you living for today? This is a great day! I hope you are not missing it! Hannah looked ahead and you must do the same! If you need to look ahead, then say, “Amen!”

Have you ever felt like a failure? Or I am I the only one? The next time you feel like a failure you need to get your eyes off the details of your life. What we need to do is look at something new! First, you need to look away. You are not as good or as bad as they say. Second, you need to look above. Jesus didn’t come to complicate your life. He came to help you live your life. Third, you need to look ahead. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad in it! And all of God’s successful people said, “Amen!”