Hannah finds herself in an unbroken cycle.
Each year that her husband, Elkanah, takes his family up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord, Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife and Hannah’s rival, provokes Hannah to tears.
And each year that Peninnah reminds Hannah of her closed womb, Hannah responds by allowing it to bring her to a place of such misery that she refuses to eat and refuses to be consoled by their husband Elkanah.
We do not know how many years this scene played out for Hannah, except to read that it was the same pattern that happened year after year. And every year Hannah would allow her rival to keep her in her misery.
If you find yourself in an unbroken cycle, repeating the same unwise decisions often or wallowing in your pity and defeated circumstances, then it is time to look into why this is happening.
God’s heart for each of us is to grow and mature in Him. And in order for us to grow and mature as He desires, we will be taken through the same testings and trials with different scenarios perhaps, over and over again.
Whenever I find myself in a very familiar test, instead of coming into agreement with the repetitive story line, I choose to reflect and ask the Lord some much needed questions.
I want to know God’s heart for me when He witnesses my unsuccessful attempts at breaking free. I have come around this bend before and I do not want to repeat my same mistakes.
I grapple with self doubt questioning if breaking the cycle is for me. Maybe I deserve to remain in this rut, to continue to suffer repeatedly, and to comfortably choose that this is the life for me.
Jesus, however, has told us that He came to give us life and to give it abundantly. So in honoring our free will, the Lord steps aside to see what we will choose to do with His promises He has already given us in His Word.
Will we believe Him? Will we agree to allow Him to break our unending cycles? Or shall we just lower our heads shuffling forward, refusing to catch sight of another way through this terrain?
Breaking unending cycles in our lives is possible. We see evidence of this in the lives of believers in the Bible, we see evidence of others breaking free of their own cycles around us, but why is it so difficult to believe that we are capable of having great faith to break free from our own repetitive patterns?
As we read in the first chapter of 1 Samuel, we see how Hannah breaks free of her unending cycle of torment from Peninnah by running to the Lord. Perhaps, that is a step of obedience we can do ourselves.
I challenge you to run to the Lord with your life patterns needing interruption and plead with Him to move on your behalf. Listen to what He tells you. He will provide action steps and help along the way, but we need to remain determined to follow through with everything He says.