I wrote this piece when I was going through a rough time in my life, a season of discouragement. All I saw around me were unfulfilled promises of heaven. The enemy was asking me to give up. It was at a time like this that the Lord reminded me of Hannah.

The Bible says in I Samuel 1:5 that the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb. Isn’t that a bit too harsh?? Why would the Lord, the good God as we know Him to be, close her womb?? This question troubled me, until the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the Lord was preparing her womb for a prophet Samuel to be birthed in her. There are times we go through such a “closed womb experience”. These times are not for us to get discouraged but instead to pursue God with more passion and devotion.

The Bible says that in spite of her closed womb experience Hannah would go to the House of God and keep knocking at His door. As she did that, she allowed the Holy Spirit to sow into her womb and prepare her womb for GREATNESS.

As someone coming from the medical profession I can tell you, that the state of the mother determines the state of the womb and consequently the state of the child. Many of the children I’ve treated for mental retardation, had their mothers going through tremendous amount of stress or having a disease of some sort. I’m sure the thought of giving up would have crossed Hannah’s mind umpteen times. But what she didn’t realize was that God was preparing her womb for greatness. Many a time, as we keep seeking God for what He has promised, we do not realize that by persisting we are being prepared for greatness.

James 1:5 says ^‘Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance’. In the physical realm, endurance means being able to withstand fatigue. The more you endure, the farther you can run.

So today, if you are going through a season of trials and tests, let me encourage you with these words. Don’t give up! The Lord is preparing you to run the long race. If you would only endure like Paul, you too would cry out one day ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race’. (2 Timothy 4:7)  He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20) and they will never fail. So shout it out loud today, “I will not give up”!

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Prayers

Stephen