full

Hannah (Letting Go)

Motherhood often feels like a nonstop evaluation of what you do or manage in a day, especially around Mother’s Day. But we are reminded that, just like Hannah, a mother’s identity is rooted in being seen and loved by God—not in her endless tasks or visible results.

Hannah's pivotal moment was when she opened her heart to God and was reminded of her worth, not just when her prayer was answered. This Mother’s Day, discover deeper comfort and worth in God’s unconditional love rather than the pressure to produce or perform. Listen to this uplifting message for more insight and encouragement for moms.

Scriptures Referenced

1 Samuel 1:1-28, 2:1-2; John 1:12; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:3

Key Insights

  • Your identity isn’t found in what you produce. It’s determined by God, who created and loves us.
  • God’s voice trumps all other voices.
  • When you’re Spirit-led, you can walk in peace.
  • Comparison is the thief of joy.
  • The greatest thing Hannah did was ask for a son and let it go.
  • When we are obedient to the Lord, it ripples well into eternity.

Prayer Targets

Please join us in prayer for:

  • A hunger for the Word.
  • Tears for the lost.
  • Testimonies to share.

Get sermons delivered automatically: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | YouTube | Your Favorite Podcast App

We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Gathering Times

  • Sundays, 9:00 AM
  • Sundays, 11:00 AM
  • Thursdays, 6:00 PM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

Additional Resources

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
Speaker:

Happy Mother's Day! All the mothers

Speaker:

And for those mothers who are on the couch drinking coffee watching live stream, we're

Speaker:

glad you're joining us too. Amen.

Speaker:

Well, it is a good day to be in the house and, and I'm glad

Speaker:

that you're here. Before I get going on

Speaker:

Tuesday, on Tuesday we have something going on here that we have on the second

Speaker:

Tuesday of every month and that is the Business Collective

Speaker:

and if you are a business owner, manager, entrepreneur,

Speaker:

aspiring business leader,

Speaker:

we invite you to come. Josh McLeod and Justin Beshearce lead that time together.

:

00 here at Spring House, there's a breakfast provided for you,

:

and, I've always left just enriched and

:

blessed, and you will be too. So I encourage you to be a part of

:

that if that's something you have capacity for.

:

We're continuing our story, our series rather, on the Greatest

:

Stories Ever Told. And, today we're going to talk about a character

:

in scripture that you all read about this week. If you're following our, our, our

:

reading plan, we're going to be talking about, a lady

:

named Hannah. Now not that Hannah. That is is that a Hannah out

:

there? I can't see. Yeah, that's Hannah. Not that Hannah, but Hannah in the

:

Bible. And, the Bible actually mentions

:

several moms in scripture. And though in

:

scripture moms don't they're not illuminated, we don't have,

:

you know, expansive stories on on a lot of on a lot of the

:

moms, they are mentioned here in in scripture. Let me just

:

mention a few of them. Eve, the mother of the

:

living, Adam and Eve. Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Rebecca,

:

the mother of Jacob and Esau. Leah and Rachel were mothers of

:

the tribes of Israel. Jochebed was, Moses'

:

mother. Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon. Elizabeth was

:

the mother of John the Baptist, and of course Mary was the the mother

:

of of Jesus. There are mentions of mothers in

:

Scripture, you know, but they're not their stories may not be as illuminated,

:

but their stories are very connected and very powerful. And I

:

would probably venture to think that

:

in this house with this many people there's probably some mothers here

:

who your story is not very illuminated but your story is very connected

:

and it's very powerful. It's very powerful.

:

Mothers, mothers are I think probably the some of the

:

strongest warriors of our time, mothers. Taking great

:

care, you know I was I was listening to the skit during the

:

first gathering or whatnot and I said man, those are actually some puny

:

things. See, my brother and I, we fought when we were children.

:

You know, it started with knives and, and it ended with hopefully

:

not death and it didn't. We're still here, you know, but, may it be a

:

crashing into a wall or a lance broken or whatever it is, we were

:

brutal with one another. And my mom still

:

let us live in the house and still took care of us and

:

and, and still loved us through it all. But I'm

:

gonna read the story of Hannah, to you and then we're

:

gonna read, a portion of the response Hannah had

:

in her worship to the Lord, after after the story.

:

So let's listen to the story. There once was a man who lived

:

in, Ramathaim. His name was Elkanah

:

Elkanah and he had two wives. His first was Hannah, the second was,

:

Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, Hannah did not. Every

:

year Elkanah went to his hometown up to Shiloh

:

to worship and offer sacrifice to God. Eli and his two sons

:

served as priests of the of God there. When Elkanah

:

sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial mill around

:

to his wife, Peninnah, and all her children, but he

:

always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he

:

loved her so much and because God had not given her any children.

:

But her rival wife taunted her cruelly rubbing it

:

in and never letting her forget that God had never given her

:

children. This went on year after year. Every time she went

:

to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted, Hannah was

:

reduced to tears and had no appetite. Her husband

:

Elkanah said, oh Hannah why are you crying?

:

Why aren't you eating and why are you so upset?

:

Am I not worth more to you than 10 sons? So

:

Hannah ate, she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly and

:

entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance of

:

God's temple and the customary seat. Crushed in soul,

:

Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried inconsolably. She

:

made this vow, Oh God, if you'll take a

:

good hard look at my pain, if you'll quit neglecting me

:

and go into action for me by giving me a son, I'll

:

give him completely unreservedly to you. I'll

:

set him apart for a life of holy discipline. It so happened

:

that she continued in prayer before God. Eli was watching

:

her closely while she prayed. Hannah was praying in her heart

:

silently. Her lips moved but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the

:

conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, you're

:

drunk. How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up,

:

woman. Hannah said, oh no sir, please.

:

I'm a woman who is brokenhearted. I haven't been

:

drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer has entered my my

:

mouth. The only thing is that I'm pouring out my heart, pouring it out to

:

God. Don't think for a minute that I'm a bad woman.

:

It's because I'm so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I've

:

stayed here so long. Eli answered her, go in peace and may

:

the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him. God

:

began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had

:

asked and before the year was out Hannah had conceived and given birth to a

:

son. She named him Samuel explaining, I

:

asked God for him. When Elkanah next took

:

his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God

:

offering sacrifices and keeping his vow, Hannah didn't

:

go. She told her husband after the child is

:

weaned I'll bring him myself and present him before

:

God and that's where he'll stay for good. Elkanah said to

:

his wife, yes. Let God complete what he has begun.

:

So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned

:

him. She took him up to Shiloh bringing also makings of a generous

:

meal, a prized bull, flour, and wine. They first butchered

:

the bull, then they brought the child to Eli. Hannah said,

:

excuse me sir, would you believe that I am the very

:

woman who was standing before you on this very spot praying to

:

God? I prayed for this child and God gave me what I

:

asked for and now I have dedicated him to God. He is

:

dedicated to God for life. Then and there,

:

they worshiped God. And in Hannah's worship, she said this. Would

:

you stand with me and read from first Samuel chapter two.

:

My heart rejoices in the Lord. In the

:

Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth

:

boasts over my enemies for I delight in your

:

deliverance. There is no one holy like

:

the Lord. There is not one besides you.

:

There is no rock like our God. Father, I thank you that that is

:

true. I thank you that you are holy, that you are

:

sovereign, that you are true, and that your promises are yes

:

and amen. I pray Lord that you would pierce our hearts with your words today

:

and transform us for eternity. In Jesus' name, and everyone said?

:

Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Well it is Mother's Day as we've mentioned

:

multiple times and you obviously know, that is today, but

:

before we get into celebrating Mother's Day and we are gonna draw from Hannah's

:

story and I'm gonna speak to the mothers. I want to say two things. The

:

first thing is is if you're a dude I don't want you to check out

:

today because while I'm speaking in context to mothers,

:

God has something he wants to speak to you as well. Secondly

:

secondly, I understand that, that

:

today isn't always easy for every person. I want to take a

:

moment to honor those, those for whom this day may feel a

:

bit complicated. To the women who have longed to hold a child

:

and are still waiting. To the women who have walked a painful

:

road of loss, to the women who have prayed,

:

hoped, and maybe even grieved in silence, to the women who have nurtured

:

others as mentors, aunts, teachers, and spiritual mothers,

:

I want you to know this morning that you are seen.

:

That you are seen, that you are deeply valued, and that you

:

matter. We look at Hannah's story and we see a

:

woman who did not know how her story

:

was going to end. See, we have the privilege when we read scripture to know

:

how the stories end. Hannah did not know that God was

:

going to provide a son, she didn't know the end of the story. She was

:

not holding a child when she came to the temple. She was

:

holding a desire, she was holding disappointment, she

:

was holding devotion all at once. And what changed

:

her wasn't the moment that she got what she wanted,

:

It was the moment she poured out her soul to God and said, Lord if

:

you will remember me I'll give it all back to you.

:

So today even before we talk about the gift of motherhood we begin

:

by celebrating the power of surrender.

:

The power of surrender because whether you're a mom,

:

longing to be a mom, or carrying a different type of

:

hope, God sees your heart and he treasures your offering

:

of worship, every one of you. I don't presume to have the authority

:

or understanding on what it is to be a mother because I've never been one

:

and I don't plan to be one anytime soon.

:

But I've been surrounded by mothers all my life,

:

lots of mothers, good mothers. And my

:

my natural, my biological mother has really put up with a

:

lot when it came to to me and being her son. You

:

know, as a boy, you know, I would run into her workplace, next to

:

her friends and I would just speak my mind such as, you sure are

:

wearing too much makeup. Or maybe I would see a slightly

:

obese friend of hers and say, when is that baby due? Right in front of

:

her. And she would be so embarrassed

:

by the things that would come out of my mouth. We would be running

:

around the thrift store pulling down clothes off of the racks as we played hide

:

and seek and knocking into people. We often fought over who had the

:

most Doritos in the bowls that we were given. We fought, we

:

fought, we fought, we cried, we needed, we wanted, and mom,

:

mom was always there. Mom was always there. I believe

:

that mothers are modern day heroes in my

:

book. They are warriors. And while we all tend to

:

go to the greeting card section of Target and Walmart and

:

Walgreens or wherever you get your greeting cards and you look for a sentimental

:

card to convey your appreciation and many of times you're looking

:

for a card that says thank you. After I review my life and

:

think what I put my mom through, I can't help to succumb to say anything

:

else to you mom except for I am sorry. I am

:

so, I am so sorry. You know, it's fun

:

raising kids. I have four daughters and I watch my wife be a

:

real incredible mother as well. And the

:

number one word that's used in our house is mama,

:

Mama! Because none of my kids nor myself can

:

ever find anything, even though it's laying right next to us. When we need something

:

we call mama and she just mysteriously finds it every

:

single time. Maybe that's your story in your house.

:

Maybe that's your story. Moms hold things together. They

:

are like glue. And, and

:

we so appreciate our our moms. When I, when I was,

:

younger, I worked at a place called Chick fil A. Am I like Chick fil

:

A? I used to work at Chick fil A, and, I worked there for eight

:

years, and there was a single thing I've come to realize that I really

:

enjoyed about Chick fil A. It's my favorite thing about, being at Chick

:

fil A. And it was this, at 10:00 at night,

:

I would walk out of Chick fil A and the dishes were done. The

:

counters were wiped. The floors were clean, and I didn't have to

:

think about it again until I came back the next day. Can I

:

tell you? It's not the same for mothers.

:

Mothers think about their children is it am I saying the truth, moms?

:

You think about your kids all of the time. It does

:

not stop. It does not stop. You don't get to hang it up, you don't

:

get to walk away, but mothers think about their kids all of the

:

time. It's while the physical umbilical cord has been severed, the emotional,

:

spiritual, and mental one is very, very much still intact.

:

From rendering food for a hungry hungry

:

child, care, clothing, nurturing support, and emotional

:

well-being, schooling, provisions, doctor visits,

:

answering questions, showing up when

:

nobody else will. There's almost very little in

:

the vein of appreciation instead a lot of times, mothers, does it

:

feel like expectation. An expectation, a

:

weight of expectations. Mom, moms I believe are the warriors of

:

our day. I have a lot on my plate personally. I've got a lot going

:

on in my life, a lot of moving parts, but can I tell you I

:

think most every mom in this place would run circles around me when it

:

came to the things that you carry and the responsibilities

:

that you have in being a mom? But even in all of that, something

:

happens in moms that I see all

:

too often. No matter how incredible, no

:

matter how wonderful, no matter how super powerful we think

:

they are, many moms when they look in the mirror,

:

all they see is one word, failure.

:

Failure. And I believe that there are some moms in

:

this place today who need to hear, you

:

are doing an exceptional job.

:

You are doing an exceptional

:

job as a mom. One of the hardest

:

jobs on the planet. In all of that we're gonna draw

:

from Hannah and one of the things that I want mothers

:

to understand and for all of us to understand today as we look at Hannah's

:

story is this, your identity is not found in what you

:

produce. Your identity is not

:

found in what you produce and producers you are. From the

:

very first breath of your baby you become a producer and you

:

do not stop producing, many of you, until either the

:

Lord takes you home or them home first. You continue to produce.

:

And so this is a real trick of the enemy, moms,

:

is that your identity and your value is placed in how well

:

you keep up with the kids, how well you keep up the house, how well

:

you're taking care of everything and answering everything else. Your identity

:

is not taken up in what you produce.

:

God never intended it to be that way.

:

Elkanah said, why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more

:

to you than 10 sons? Hannah lived in a world where

:

a woman's worth was measured by her ability to bear children.

:

Her rival Penina had many children. Hannah had

:

none. And yet Elkanah tries to remind her you are

:

loved, you are valued, you are not forgotten.

:

And in the same way our identity is not determined by what we

:

produce. Children, status, perfection,

:

public praise, it is determined by the God who

:

created and loves you. It's determined

:

by the God who created and loves you. John one says this,

:

but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave

:

the right to become children of God.

:

Moms in this place, can I tell you that you were a daughter of the

:

Most High King before you ever were a mom?

:

You're a child of a star breather before you assigned,

:

before you received the assignment of of

:

mom. You are incredible. Moms,

:

you are beautiful and you are seen because he says you

:

are. You were a daughter long before you were a mom. Mom

:

is a job and a responsibility you carry. It is what you

:

do, not who you are.

:

Second thing I want to draw from Hannah's story is this,

:

God's voice trumps all other voices.

:

God's voice trumps all other voices. As Hannah

:

prays, Eli accuses her of being drunk.

:

Peninnah mocks her year after year, it haunts her, year

:

after year she's coming to the temple and she gets mocked. Can I

:

just say that's happening in the church?

:

That's happening, Eli's a priest. Penina,

:

she's going to the temple and the taunting is happening there, the

:

discouragement is happening there. Dare I say that

:

sometimes moms walk into this place

:

looking at everything around them assuming that everyone else has it together

:

except for them. Can I tell you that's a lie from the enemy?

:

Can I tell you moms, the fact that you got here this

:

morning, the fact that you got all of the people put

:

together and they're here, even if there's a mustard stain right here or chocolate

:

milk, God sees

:

you and he sees your sacrifice?

:

Have you ever seen this movie? The

:

Blind Side? It's a good movie. I

:

recommend it. The Blind Side is a great movie.

:

Leanne Tuohy, and this is based on a true story,

:

takes on Michael Oher, and she wasn't a mother

:

by natural means but she sure was a mother

:

to that boy. Her identity was not in societal

:

roles, but in living a courageous surrender life,

:

a life of compassion. And she did not succumb to the

:

voices and the naysayers around her.

:

Of God at work. Galatians five twenty two says, the fruit of the spirit is

:

what? Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

:

gentleness, and self control. And guys, can I tell you, I think some

:

of the mamas keep their sanity because they are getting before the Lord?

:

They're getting before the Lord, and moms, when you get before the Lord, you're

:

able to contend with everything that comes your way with love, joy, peace, because it's

:

evidence, the fruit of your, of your relationship with the Lord when you're

:

getting before Him. And can I tell you, it's so important that

:

you do? Because the Lord wants to convey to you important

:

truths to your heart about who you are and whose

:

you are. Hannah had a very

:

had every, right to react in the flesh. Every right to react in the

:

flesh, but instead of clapping back at Peninnah or confronting

:

Eli, she leaned on the Spirit of God, not her

:

emotions. That kind of self control only comes from

:

walking closely to God. So God's voice brings

:

peace before your circumstances change. So I encourage you, don't let

:

the culture, comparison, or even your thoughts be louder than God's voice.

:

When you are spirit led, you can walk at in peace

:

even in the pleasant presence of pressure. And

:

the last point that I wanna draw from Hannah's story is this,

:

comparison is the thief of joy.

:

Comparison is the thief of joy. Penina had

:

children but she did not have peace. Why?

:

Because her children became her idol.

:

Her children became her idol and might I suggest that sometimes

:

some moms might start out as a Hannah but they end up

:

becoming a Panina.

:

Moms, love your kids

:

like this. Because I promise you

:

that God God will lead and grow your

:

kids better than you can ever do. And if

:

you will raise them with a surrendered posture, not

:

only will he take care of them, he'll also speak

:

and take care of you. He'll fill you up. He'll

:

encourage you. He'll speak truths to you that nobody on this

:

planet could speak. True things

:

that would encourage you and change your life. Even at the temple,

:

Panina taunted Hannah. She wasn't there to worship. She was

:

there to compare. Comparison poisons

:

joy even when you have the thing that someone else

:

wants. Philippians two:three says this, do nothing out of

:

selfish ambition or vain conceit rather in humility

:

value others above yourselves.

:

We don't want to be a people who walk in and evaluate our job

:

performance based on everybody else and what they're doing. God

:

has equipped you for the job and task that you

:

have at hand and you're doing a great job. Mothers,

:

don't let someone else's Instagram highlight real define your

:

value. And when you stop

:

comparing you start celebrating your children, your

:

story, and your peace, and your peace.

:

And who here does not wanna have peace? Who wants to have peace in

:

the house? I know I do. All the families. We're gonna do something a little

:

different this morning. The worship team could go ahead and make their way back out

:

here. I'm gonna give some instruction here over the next few moments.

:

And what the Lord placed on my heart for us to do today,

:

is I want us to take a moment and speak some

:

words of life over the moms in this

:

space. Now I want to be careful with my instruction here

:

because I really I want something very specific. I feel like the Lord wants to

:

do something very specific here. We're not going to tell the

:

moms what they have done. Mom, you

:

thank you for getting the kids dressed and dishes and all

:

these, whatever it is, all the chores, all things. That's not what this time is

:

about. This time is about speaking

:

words of life over the moms in this place. Words

:

that come from the throne room of God. Now how do we access the

:

throne room of God? The Holy Spirit. You

:

have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, moms let

:

me encourage you in something. Some of you live, especially

:

with men, live with with some guys who they do not know

:

simply how, they just don't know how to

:

speak words. May I tell you, a majority of those men, just because

:

they don't know how to speak those words, they're inside. They're

:

there. But today, I want to kind

:

of exercise those who are sons and

:

sacrificial. You know, I know my wife, she is literally named three or

:

four desires and passions

:

entertained, because she knows that her calling right now in this season is to be

:

a mom, and there are things inside you that the Lord

:

has not forgotten. Just like he didn't forget Hannah, and the desires

:

that she has, he's not forgotten you, and so this morning,

:

we're just gonna lather you with words of affirmation and

:

words of love. So if first of all, if you are a mother, would you

:

just stand? I just want to see how many mothers

:

we have. If you're a mother, would you stand? Okay. Changed up a little bit

:

of how I wanted to do this this morning because the Lord told

:

me if I did it my original way, there may get, there may be somebody

:

who gets forgotten and that would be a ploy of the enemy. We're not gonna

:

let him have foothold. So, if you're a mom in this place and you're able

:

and willing, would you make your way down to this

:

space?

:

Yes.

:

Come on, file in, make room. There's plenty of space

:

over here.

:

I'm a bit overwhelmed. Would you guys stand? Can we

:

just, can we just.

:

I want to facilitate what we're about to do really well,

:

so I am gonna give some very specific instructions, okay?

:

You all, and I'm even speaking to some of you because you are, there's some

:

daughters here, okay? Daughters of mothers

:

that are here. I don't want one mother

:

leaving here without a word spoken over her. Mario,

:

Jeanie's right back there, you got her. Okay? Not one mother leaves

:

here without words spoken over, so this is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna invite

:

you in just a second to come to the altar space, and if you are

:

connected biologically,

:

spiritually, to any of these mothers here,

:

I want you to come and I want you to speak direct words of life

:

over them. And once you guys, ladies, have had a moment

:

and somebody has spoken over you, once that moment has concluded, if

:

you'll make your way back, in our time of worship, that will make

:

sure that everyone has been seen, because I wanna make sure everybody gets a

:

word. We're gonna sing the song The Blessing. Because what I

:

want you to understand is that Hannah's obedience

:

to rendering Samuel in the temple, set a course of events in motion that led

:

to our savior, Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

:

Obedience ripples. Your sacrifice ripples,

:

well into generations that if the Lord tarries, you won't even see on this side

:

of eternity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

:

you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. On this side of eternity. Thank you.

:

Thank you for your sacrifice, for your love, for the

:

joy you exude, and for being strong enough to show up

:

every single time. You are valiant warriors for the

:

kingdom. Would you guys come and let's spend some time speaking

:

life into these women.

:

What would it look like if we spoke words of life over

:

our mothers more than just on Mother's Day? Wouldn't that be

:

something? Somebody said earlier to me, they were like, well I was trying to think

:

about what I should do and this morning I I acknowledged, I said, well let

:

me give you a secret. Acknowledge mom next week and see what

:

happens. Acknowledge mom next month and see what happens.

:

Right? And guys, if you're anything like me, for, you know, my life,

:

if it's not on the calendar, it doesn't happen, that's a tool. Put it on

:

the calendar. Call mom. Encourage mom, you

:

know? Some of you need to make phone calls today. Yes?

:

Raise your hand, let me give you a blessing. May the

:

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, cover our

:

families and homes and thank the Lord for the

:

gift of mom. In Jesus name, Amen. Be blessed Spring

:

House.

All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Springhouse Church Sermons
Springhouse Church Sermons
Life Happens Here

Listen for free