1 Samuel 1:6

New International Version

Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.

For Meditation

There is too much provocation in this world now—provocation to act out of character, and sometimes, to bring out our authentic self, the hidden us, to destroy us. It happens on the job when your boss or colleague hates your guts, intelligence, or skills, and wants to pull you down. Everything they do has one goal—to provoke you to insanity. A supervisor once provoked me in the worst way possible. After signing the pay sheet for my check, he threw it on the ground and waited for my reaction. Somehow, I had an extraordinary peace to just pick it up and walk away before doing what could have landed me in jail. 

Couples somehow love to get under each other’s skin, for whatever reason; only God knows. It sometimes begins as a game that turns sour, leading to anger, vengeance, and divorce. World leaders provoke each other into wars and regional instability. They do the same internally to dominate and control their people. Therefore, there is no peace, but turmoil everywhere, even in the church, regrettably. To have the proper response to provocation, one must know who the real enemy is—the premier instigator. 

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  

As we tear each other up, the actual provocateur laughs to the bank. We cannot see that a spiritual battle is raging fiercely around us, and we are mere pawns in the realm of these forces. Spiritual battles aren’t fought physically. For believers in Jesus, God has given us the right weapons to wage war with, loaded with divine power  (2 Cor. 10:3-5), and has provided our defense in His armor (Eph. 6:13-18). After identifying the source, we engage in battle clad in the whole armor of God until victory embraces us. Hannah knew this long before Paul wrote his epistle.     

Childless in a polygamous marriage because God had closed her womb, Hannah was driven to extreme provocation by Peninnah, the other wife of her husband, Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:6-7). Naturally, she grieved over her situation, but she did not retaliate or turn her anger on her husband like Rachel did on Jacob (Gen. 30:1-2). She knew a better way and the best person to cry on—God Almighty, the giver of life (1 Sam. 1:11). God answered her prayers and gave her a son. Hannah did not seek a child for her own sake, but to give him back to the Lord to work through him—to bring His people back to Him. She had the right attitude and motive in fervent prayer, and God honored His name in the son she bore (20).

So, who have you focused on in your provocation—the person before you or the forces of evil contending with you in the heavenly realms? Why not turn to the Lord and stop giving the devil pleasure by your combative response to every human attack?

Pray with Me

Help us, Lord, when provoked, to recognize who our real enemy is so that we can fight well. Amen!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com