MONDAY, June 15 (Evelyn Underhill)

1 Samuel 1:1-20. Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

Hannah and Elkanah had been married for many years. Not only was Hannah childless, but she was also taunted by Peninnah, Elkanah's other wife. At Shiloh Hannah prayed to the Lord and then became pregnant. The story of Hannah is the story of God's miraculous hand in history. Or is it?

Ella and Eaton had been married for thirteen years. Ella had no rival to make her life miserable, but month after month her hope for a child was dashed. Then, after thirteen years, God's hand once again  entered history, and I was conceived.

The story of Ella and Eaton, however, will not become lore, because God's world abounds in  miracles. What was extraordinary about Hannah was her faith: she "went to her quarters, ate and drank  with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer." Nothing had happened. Hannah remained childless. Peninnah was still deriding her. But Hannah knew her Lord, enough to trust that her prayer would be answered in her favor and to act on that trust.

PRAY for the Diocese of Mara (Tanzania)

Ps 80 * 77, [79]; Acts 1:1-14; Luke 20:9-19

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