Do You Have Unfulfilled Desires And Feel Like God Is Not Listening?
Unfulfilled desires have a way of tripping us up and landing us in a pit of discouragement. And left unchecked, discouragement can land us in a deeper state of depression. That is Hannah’s story. Hannah wanted a baby, but her deep heartfelt desire went unfulfilled far too long.
· Read Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1.
Clearly Hannah’s discouragement over her unfulfilled desires led her to a depressed state of mind. So depressed that she identified herself saying,
1 Samuel 1:15 - “I am a woman of sorrowful spirit.”
Hannah had good reason to be depressed. Her husband, Elkanah had another wife named Peninnah. This in itself would be a bad situation, but not so uncommon for their day. In 1 Samuel 1:6, we see the other woman, Peninnah, identified as Hannah’s rival. The other woman is always the rival, the one who torments even if it is only by their very existence. Hannah’s rival actively worked to keep Hannah depressed.
1 Samuel 1:6 - And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable,
because the Lord had closed her womb.
Hannah’s Unfulfilled Desire
Hannah wanted children for a long time, yet birthed no children. I have watched women walk through a situation like Hannah’s and every one of them struggled with feeling depressed at some point. First discouragement comes. Then depression. The longer we walk through a situation without God answering our prayers or giving us our deep desires, the more depressed we become.
1 Samuel 1:7 - So it was year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord,
that she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat.
Peninnah, the other woman, had several children. The scripture doesn’t say an exact number but it does say, “all her sons and daughters.” (1 Samuel 1:4) So for the sake of thinking through Hannah’s story, let’s just say Peninnah had at least two sons and two daughters.
Bare minimum it would have taken close to a four-year span to have those four children. All the while Hannah watches her rival live out her dream. Four years isn’t a terribly long time but when it is connected to seeing your deepest heartfelt desires given to your rival and not you, four years can seem like a really long time.
Have you ever had that kind of deep desire in your heart? I’m talking about a good desire, nothing wrong, sinful, or shameful in your desire. And because your desire was pure and good, you felt completely comfortable seeking God for it. Maybe like Hannah, you were doing all the right things, honoring God and others when life wasn’t going your way. Maybe like Hannah, you became so depressed that you were in bitterness of soul.
1 Samuel 1:10
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
To Hannah’s credit, she continued to seek God for the answer to her prayer. She knew where her help came from. She knew God was the one who could change her situation.
Hannah Made A Vow To God.
Hannah promised to dedicate her son to God’s service all the days of his life. Her vow to God seemed to be her pivoting point. So that part of the story - Eli, the priest, had watched the depressed Hannah pour out her soul to the Lord. She was so demonstrative in her petitions that Eli thought she was drunk. Once she explained her situation and her depressed state of mind, Eli, the man of God spoke encouragement.
1 Samuel 1:17 - Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”
For the first time, Hannah went from begging to believing. In that moment, her depression washed away.
1 Samuel 1:18b
So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
True faith has that kind of power.
Notice that Hannah chose to trust and believe God fully before her situation changed. Once she chose to trust and believe God, discouragement and depression had no power over her.
Here is what I think changed for her… her focus.
She quit looking at what she did not have and stopped listening to her rival’s taunts. Hannah set her heart and mind to hope. She believed God who could, would. Therefore, God did.
1 Samuel 1:20
So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for Him from the Lord.”
The Good News for Our Unfulfilled Desires
Many times our on-going unfulfilled desires discourage us. We sometimes struggle with believing that God will do what we ask. We believe He can, but we aren’t so sure that He will do it for us. Thus, we feel discouraged. Maybe we listened to the enemy’s lies and identified ourselves with an unfulfilled desire or a temporary situation or a state of mind.
The good news is that we are in good company. Hannah is not the only person in Scripture that experienced discouragement to the degree that she eventually found herself in a state of depression. King David, a man after God’s own heart (God’s testimony of David) felt this way in his life as well. We can see it in Psalm 42 and 43 where he repeats the exact same words three times.
Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
Notice how David works to talk himself out of discouragement. First, he identifies his deep inner emotions and then encourages himself to, “hope in God.” David stirs up his hope in God.
Changing Our Focus
We all tend to focus our attention on what isn’t happening. But shifting our focus from our situation to our God and to the hope that we have in Him changes things. We have a God who is not only able to fulfill our deepest desires, but also willing to change our situations.
Following David and Hannah’s lead is a great way to help ourselves overcome discouragement. The following day after Hannah shifted her focus 1 Samuel 1:19 tells us that she rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord. David re-centered his heart and mind on God in those moments of discouragement saying, “for I shall yet praise Him.”
Worship and praise draw our attention and focus on God. Worship and praise is powerful! If we worship and praise God when we feel discouraged, we will conquer that emotion and protect ourselves from going further to a state of depression. Let’s follow the lead of those great men and women of faith who trusted and believed God, who set their hope in God, knowing He is able, believing He is willing, and relying fully on His faithfulness.
One last lesson that Hannah teaches us that I can not walk away from. Hannah did not give up. She continually sought God until she got her answer.
Dear Sister, DO NOT GIVE UP!
