Good morning,

1 Samuel 2, 17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. 18 BUT Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, …”

I believe parents have one of the most difficult challenges in raising children. The moment a child is born, the Christian parents raise the child (children) the best they know how according to God’s word but still, they do not know what the child (children) would turn out to be as he or she grows older. I think parenting is exciting but the same time very scary. In as much as parents hope and pray that their children turn out right, there is a wonder and fear inside, “how will my child (children) turn out to be?”. I’m not a parent yet but I am beginning to think and wonder, how will my child (children) turn out to be when God blesses me with them. No one encounters with the end results, they only encounter with the process.

Eli served God as a judge for 40years. He had a successful ministry but a broken home. He had two sons Hophni and Pheneas. Both sons were to be priests but they were worthless, corrupt men who promoted prostitution, abhorred the offering of the Lord and refused to heed to their father’s teachings, rebuke and advise. What a disappointed father Eli was that in spite of being successful in ministry, he had failed as a father and God held him accountable for it. He lacked the firmness to control his sons. Two sons gone bad and a father who has no son to be proud of. The bible says, “17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord”. I don’t think Eli ever imagined his sons turning out like this but they did.

18 BUT Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, …”. In spite of Eli’s gone wrong sons, there was but a young child Samuel who ministered before the Lord. In the midst of looking around and seeing children going against God and are being disobedient to their parents and to authority, I am reminded of “BUT” word. It tells you how God is still raising children in the midst of bad things happening around. Children like Samuel who will grow in the fear and the knowledge of God because they were prayed in and prayed through. God’s hand is upon their lives because their parents prayed for them and commended them to God’s hands. They did the best and left the rest for God to handle. Parents can’t change the hearts of their children, God can.

Let’s make a few steps back and understand how Samuel came into the picture. Samuel was born in an answer to a tearful prayer of his mother Hannah. Let this be a reminder to you that it’s not too late or to early to pray for your child (children), this is encouraging because I am a firm believer of it. I do not have children but I’ve began praying my child (children) in and praying them through. Praying that one day God will give and begin to use them at their young age like Samuel. Eli prophesied the birth of Samuel and when he was young he came to minister with Eli to the Lord in the temple. Samuel’s mother prayed him in and prayed him through. Her desire was for the Lord to bless and use the blessing. That God’s hand would be upon her God given gift. She was offering back what came from God, a prayer all Christian parents should offer.

God told Jeremiah, “Jeremiah 1:5, “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” There are four “I” in direct link to God to show how God’s hand was in the process from the time He thought of Jeremiah, to forming him, to sanctifying him, to calling him. Only God who gave them knows their beginning to their end therefore He can be trusted with what He gives and that is by praying them in and praying them through saying, “Lord I commend them to you”. To continue

Thanks
Evans