God doesn't just meet our needs,He exceeds them.

Live it
Elkanah had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had two children by her husband but Hannah had none, because Scripture says God closed her womb. Children were to people back then a direct blessing of God, the opposite also being true. It's safe to conclude that much prayer about the matter didn't seem to have any effect. Compounded was the fact, Peninnah provoked Hannah by reminding her of the score: Peninnah two and Hannah zero. But unlike Peninnah, Elkanah was sensitive to Hannah's feeling of inferiority, because giving his family one portion of meat to sacrifice, he gave Hannah twofold reminding her how much he loved her.

You can read the first chapter of 1 Samuel in the Bible and see how much God blessed Hannah. He gave birth to a son and named him Samuel, meaning "Because I asked the Lord for him." He become one of the primary characters in Scripture who would change the spiritual shape of the nation. But God also gave Hannah three more sons and two daughters. One can wonder if Peninnah stopped keeping score when she learned God was also keeping score.

Pray it
Here at the threshold of a new year I look back and take note of the score. I've won so much more than I've lost. And your blessings have outnumbered my problems by more than I can measure. However, I choose to think of Your love more than the gift or its value. Things come and go, but Your love does not and means everything to me.

Resources
The Bible is a record of man's failures and God's faithfulness. (2000)
There's is a murderer, prostitute, thief, seducer and adulteress in Mary's family line. (2003)
Tithing is good, but what pleases God is the attitude by which you give and not the degree.(2004)
Christ-like living is on-the-job training, (2005)
Devotional (2006)
It must amuse God when our enemies try unsucessfully to defame, discredit, ignore, deny, or kill us.(2007)
Is Jesus confiding in you, or do you hear it secondhand? (2008)

1. One-minute Devotionals began on January 2, 2006 and are the original creation of James R. Green, Prayertower Webservant Content is derived from his alternating and sequential survey of both the Old and New Testament to offer insight on Scripture.
2. Resources are derived from daily devotions of James R. Green called, Just Thinkin'... (2000-2003), Read the Bible Thru in 365 Days (2004), Pray Thru the Word in 365 Days (2005) and One Minute Devotional (2006-2008).
3. Scripture: God's Word Translation (c)1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright ©2008 James R. Green, Webservant - Prayertower Ministries
All Rights Reserved