God works in special ways with people who have a special destiny. Their times are in God's hands. The higher the calling in the Kingdom, the more severe are the Divine dealings.

The barren.

Those who have been called of the Lord, and then have waited years for God to verify their calling, realize what it means to sing and shout for joy purely by faith. Purely by faith because the Lord says to do so and they don't feel like rejoicing. It is an act of majesty when they obey.

There are multiplied thousands of people whom the Lord has elected to salvation and who soon find a place of joyous ministry in the Lord's vineyard.

Every once in a while there comes along someone who is going to be used by the Lord in a special way. While others experience the ordinary problems shared by all of the Lord's servant, these chosen ones are required to wait years before there is an evidence that God indeed has spoken.

We think of Abraham and Sarah. Their times were in God's hand in an unusual way, weren't they. Could they have burst into song before Sarah knew she was going to have a child?

And then there was Joseph. Around two decades went by before his dreams were clothed with reality. I wonder how Joseph regarded his youthful dreams by the time he had reached the age of twenty-nine!

One thing about Joseph: He spent time in prison, but he never became a prisoner in his mind and heart. The moment his time came he went right out and governed Egypt without a moment's hesitation.

We must never feel sorry for ourselves or become a prisoner in attitude. The moment our time comes we will govern the nations with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever thought much about Elkanah? He had two wives, Penninah and Hannah. Penninah bore children and no doubt was a faithful Israelite. But she was mean to Hannah, the other wife. Sometimes we see this meanness among God's people when they do not understand what God is doing with someone. Whenever God brings a person into barrenness, into a further experience of salvation, that individual may experience must meanness.

Hannah suffered at the hands of Penninah. But then Samuel was born.

Hannah had dedicated Samuel to the Lord. So after Samuel was weaned, Hannah left him at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. She saw her son only once a year, when the family went up to the annual sacrifice. Hanna brought with her a little robe.

You can imagine Hannah sitting throughout the year and making that robe while she was thinking of her little boy.

However, Hannah's grief did not last long. She soon had five more children. We don't know the names of Penninah's children, or Samuel's three brothers and two sisters. But Samuel we know. He was born out of barrenness and heartbreak. He was the prophet of Israel.

To be continued.