1 Samuel 1: The First Miracle Happens in the Heart

Introduction

At the Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica Pentecostale di Seriate, near Bergamo, Davide Di Domenico opens his message with a smile: that evening he wants to talk about the process that leads to birth, even though he is neither an obstetrician nor a maternity ward employee. It is really about a spiritual birth: the way God's plans for our lives finally come to light.

To do this, he reads the first twenty-three verses of 1 Samuel in one go. "Usually, with twenty-three verses, I would preach twenty-three sermons," he jokes. But you have to see the whole road that leads to the birth of Samuel.

This story reads almost like a TV series, with characters who are all very different. It has a happy ending. But to get there, Hannah carries a burden and goes through a long labor, constantly disturbed by the interference of others. This is the road the preacher invites us to follow.

Message Outline

1. The Same Feast, Different States of Heart

Every year, Elkanah goes up to Shiloh with his whole family to worship Yahweh and offer sacrifices. In those days, the preacher reminds us, people did not eat meat every day: this meal at the sanctuary was an exceptional feast.
Yet in the middle of the same celebration, everyone is living through a very different inner state. You can be in the same place, at the same feast, and carry opposite hearts.
Elkanah has two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah has children, Hannah has none. The text insists: Yahweh had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:5-6). For the preacher, this is no accident: it is a barrenness that was ordained, and probably limited in time.
And it repeats "year by year." The wound reopens at every trip up to the temple. Davide Di Domenico draws a link with those who are waiting for an answer from God: for them, it may not be every year, but every Sunday that worship becomes heavy. On one side, the joy of being in the Lord's presence and with the spiritual family. On the other, the bitterness of not yet seeing what you are waiting for.
What stands out about Hannah is that she does not give up easily. She had at least three occasions to complain, to get angry, or to stop. Yet she remains an extremely determined woman.

2. Peninnah: Maturity Is Measured in the Way We Handle Blessing

The first occasion to stop is Peninnah, her rival, who irritates and provokes her. The preacher sees in her the picture of the immature believer: someone who has received blessings from God and therefore thinks she is better than others.
There are people like this in the Church: people who have received opportunities, blessings, or experiences of faith, and who forget they received them by grace. They then set themselves up as experts on other people's lives: "Do this, do that."
"True spiritual maturity is measured not only by the way we go through difficulties, but by the way we handle the blessings God gives us." Many people lose their way, grow cold, or drift away from God precisely when he blesses them.
He recalls the ten lepers healed by Jesus: only one comes back to say thank you. The other nine, in effect, say goodbye: "Nice message, nice miracle, see you next time."
Peninnah had children, but she lacked mercy, empathy, and discernment. Everything we have, gifts, talents, abilities, opportunities, is a demonstration of God's grace, with no merit of our own. That cannot make us judges of others.
When someone is suffering, it is often better not to try to explain why they suffer, but to open your heart to them and be close. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15), and not do as Job's friends did, who kept telling a man who was already crushed that he was suffering because of his sin.

3. Elkanah: Loving Without Understanding

The second character is Elkanah. He loves Hannah and takes care of her, as Jacob loved Rachel. He gives her a double portion. But he does not understand her.
His attempt at comforting her is clumsy: "Hannah, why do you weep? [...] Am I not better to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:8). "The delicacy of an elephant in a china shop," the preacher says with a smile. The text does not record Hannah's answer: who knows what she would have said, or what we would have said in her place?
Elkanah was not speaking out of unkindness. He simply could not grasp the desire that lived in his wife's heart. You can love someone without understanding what they are going through.
With humor, Davide Di Domenico mentions the differences between men and women: men often have a very focused view, one thing at a time, while women perceive the whole picture more. "When you tell us you have nothing, for us, that is the final answer."
The lesson is a serious one: do not get irritated when the people around you, even the closest ones, do not understand what you are going through. They are not inside you, and some sufferings escape a superficial understanding.

4. Eli: Misunderstood Even in the Place of Worship

The third obstacle is perhaps the heaviest: Hannah is not even understood in the place of worship. The priest Eli, who is supposed to represent God, sees a woman weeping bitterly and praying silently, her lips moving. His conclusion: she is drunk.
Hannah could have stopped because of the opposition, the misunderstanding of her husband, or that of the man of God. Her answer is magnificent: "I have not drunk either wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh" (1 Samuel 1:15).
She knows the matter does not concern Peninnah, Elkanah, or Eli. It is a matter between her and God. She does not let people's misunderstanding interrupt her communion with him.
The preacher clarifies: this does not mean the Church or its leaders have the right to do wrong. But everyone makes mistakes, including those called to lead God's people, and we cannot stop at their errors.

5. Inner Labor Before the Birth

During a pregnancy, Davide Di Domenico explains, everything shifts inside the mother's body: the organs make room for the child, a process that is often painful. Even before she is pregnant, Hannah is already going through an inner labor, a "labor before the labor."
She could have resigned herself: "Yahweh has made me barren, that's how it is, I'll find another solution." She refuses to stop there.
The greater the thing we are meant to bring into the world, the longer the gestation. A female elephant carries her calf for nearly twenty-two months. Some processes in our lives cannot be rushed.
Samuel could not be born a year, a day, or an hour earlier or later: he was at the center of God's will. He was going to become the last judge of Israel, the one who would anoint King David, from whom the line of the Messiah would come. Hannah saw only her barrenness and her sadness. She did not know what son God wanted to give her.
God also saw the need of his people. Eli was not behaving well and his sons were even worse. Without knowing it, Eli was looking at the woman who would bring into the world the one who would take his place.
"It is not time that makes us mature," the preacher insists. You can wait and become more and more embittered. Time placed in God's hands, on the other hand, can lead us to see his glory. God uses waiting to shape our character. And perhaps we, too, are carrying something very heavy: "an elephant."

6. The First Miracle Happens in the Heart

Hannah prays with bitterness, but she never stops being in communion with God. The process of faith teaches us to seek God for who he is, and not only for what he can give.
Eli, the very one who had discouraged her, says to her: "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him" (1 Samuel 1:17). It is not even a prophecy. Perhaps he simply wanted to cut things short. It does not matter: Hannah seizes that word.
The text then says she ate, and "her facial expression was no longer sad" (1 Samuel 1:18). Nothing had yet changed in her situation. The first miracle did not happen in her womb, but in her heart.
Like Peter who, after a night of fishing with nothing caught, casts his nets at Jesus' word, Hannah believes the word she received. Eli was an imperfect man, but when the Word of God is spoken, it brings things into being: it is by the word that the worlds were formed.
We often reason backwards: "To be at peace, I need God to answer." Hannah, for her part, finds peace before she is pregnant. The peace of God surpasses all understanding.
Hannah had every reason to be negative: a rival who embittered her, a husband who did not understand, a man of God who thought she was drunk. She clings to none of it and holds on to the one good word. The preacher invites us to change the way we think, speak, and pray, and to banish negativity.
Paul and Silas, chained in prison without knowing what the next day held, praised God at midnight, and an earthquake set them free. Having faith does not mean denying problems. It means believing that the Lord has all authority to change our situation.

7. What God Gives, Hannah Gives Back

Hannah makes a vow: if Yahweh gives her a son, she will dedicate him to him for his whole life. She will have other children later, but she dedicates her firstborn. What God gives her, she gives back to God.
Every birth is preceded by suffering, biologically as well as spiritually. To give us eternal life, Jesus had to suffer, go all the way to death, and then rise again. The grain must die in order to bear fruit.
Many people lose their way after the miracle, drift away after the answer, or grow cold after they have been heard. The invitation is to hold on to the Lord even more closely.
In conclusion, Davide Di Domenico prays: "May your face change before your belly changes." May the peace of God guard hearts and minds, and may each person be able to hear, as Hannah did: "Go, and may the Lord grant your petition."

Key Takeaways

You can attend the same feast as everyone else with a wounded heart: waiting sometimes reopens the wound at every service.
Spiritual maturity shows in how we handle blessings, with mercy and empathy toward those who are suffering.
Do not expect others, even the closest ones or your leaders, to understand everything: some things are settled between you and God.
Great things require a long gestation. Time placed in God's hands shapes character instead of embittering.
The first miracle happens in the heart: Hannah believes the word, and her face changes before her situation does.

Personal Application

Is there a wait that makes your Sundays heavier? Can you entrust it to God instead of letting it turn into bitterness?
How do you handle the blessings God has given you? Do they make you more grateful and closer to those who are suffering?
Faced with someone going through a trial, are you tempted to explain their suffering, or do you simply know how to be present?
What misunderstanding, from someone close to you or from a leader, risks pulling you away from prayer?
What word from God can you seize today, so that your face changes even before your situation does?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was Hannah barren in 1 Samuel 1?

The text repeats that Yahweh had closed her womb. For Davide Di Domenico, this was no accident but a barrenness intended for a time: Samuel had to be born at the exact moment God planned, not a day earlier or a day later, because Israel was going to need him.

What is the first miracle in Hannah's life?

According to the preacher, the first miracle does not happen in her womb but in her heart. When Eli says to her, "Go in peace," Hannah believes that word. She eats, and her face is no longer the same, even though nothing has yet changed in her situation.

How can you wait for an answer from God without becoming bitter?

Time alone does not bring maturity, Davide Di Domenico explains: you can wait and become more and more bitter. Like Hannah, you have to place that time in God's hands, stay in communion with him, not stop at other people's mistakes, and reject negativity.