I Need an Eli

Today I started through 1 Samuel again. I really love the story of Samuel and the early monarchy of Israel–the house of Saul the Benjamite. The brotherhood displayed between David and Jonathan as well as the emotional roller-coaster that David goes through while being pursued by Saul through Israel and Philistia. The story that 1 Samuel tells is engaging to say the least.

Today I read the first two chapters of the narrative. There were some things that stood out to me that I had never really picked up before. Such as in 1 Samuel 2:10 and 1 Samuel 2:35. These texts speak of Yahweh’s anointed, his king. Before there ever was a king, the people of Israel had some expectation of a king through whom Yahweh will reign over Israel and defeat their enemies. This king, Yahweh’s anointed, will reign over Israel and the priests shall minister before him to Yahweh. But the expectation of a king that early in the narrative had caught me somewhat off guard, to my joy.

But what had really struck a cord with me was the character of Hannah. Here is a woman who was in a predicament that I never want to encounter, bareness. She could have a child. Well, I would not want to be married to two wives nor would I want a woman to feel like she is competing for my affections as her husband; nor would I want to compete for the affections of my own wife as her husband. (I would hope that I am enough for my wife and that she doesn’t need a second husband, and that I am not so selfish to tell a woman that she alone isn’t enough and that I need a second wife.) That has to be brutal beyond imagination. But then to see the competition be able to have children and to rub that in her face, Hannah had it rough.

And so she prays earnestly for a son. She prayed a vow that if she had a son, that son would be a Nazarene devoted to serve Yahweh. That’s desperation. Just to be able to have a son, he doesn’t have to live with her or be raised by her. She just wants to have a son. So desperate is Hannah that she prays silently, only moving her lips. That leads the priest, Eli, to think she is just a drunk messing around in the Tabernacle at Shiloh. But when she explains what she is doing, Eli pronounces a blessing upon her and petitions God to grant her request.

And it’s right here that I am so thankful for my church family. I have prayed hard for things in my life. I have prayed for many things with a level of desperation that can be said to be on the level of Hannah’s. There are so many things that I want desperately. For example, I’m 25 years old and still single. I’m content with my situation and have friends that are of great encouragement to me in this area, so keep that in mind. But there have been nights when I have prayed to tears that I could find a wife because, like Hannah, I want to be married and raise children.

As I said I have friends who are of great encouragement to me here. They don’t always have to petition Yahweh on my behalf. Just having friends that are themselves in the same situation is enough. I have an Eli and I am so thankful for that.

It’s why I love the ministry so much. Working with teenagers, I get to play the role of Eli their lives. When problems arise in their lives, whether it be family issues, issues with friends, or dating, I get to be Eli. I get to provide that encouragement that they are, like Hannah, able to eat again and stop looking sad. It’s what makes my role in my local church so worth it.

Even in some circles of the friends I have built up over the years. People have looked to me as their Eli. I have looked to them as their Eli. As Paul commands the Galatians, we bear each others’ burdens. When we see someone who is like Hannah, we come to that person as Eli.

And we do it because we have an Eli, the Great Eli, in the Messiah. We cast all of our cares on him because he cares for us. He went through death for us, and was raised up to new life in the new creation to secure our place in that “promised land.” His love and care for us cannot be more greatly demonstrated than that. So we can come to him with our burdens. And he has provided a place for us to meet him, the church. He has charged us with being Eli for his each other. And by living out the story of Hannah and Eli, we show the world that God cares for them and that he is going to save them if they will but look to him in faith. All of their cares and burdens will be lifted and shouldered by their Creator and a people, his people, who genuinely love them.