“I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:15 NIV)
Hannah had been praying with passion and fury when the high priest, Eli, found her. Eli assumed she was drunk. I wonder, was this a typical state for Tabernacle visitors? We remember how the book of Judges ended; everyone doing as they saw fit. The entire nation had slid into apostasy.
Hannah wasn’t drunk. She was deeply troubled and brave enough to be vulnerable about her emotional state. She wasn’t drowning her sorrows, as Eli had suggested, she was pouring them out before the Lord.
If you’ve ever been deeply troubled, as Hannah was, you inherently understand the temptation to self-medicate. Pain pushes us to find alleviation by any means necessary. Hannah could very well have turned to mood-altering agents, she could have drank away her time at the Tabernacle. But somehow she knew that imbibing would’t be a solution, only a deferment. When her inebriation wore off, her problems would be waiting.
Hannah chose instead to take her problems to the Tabernacle, where she painstakingly laid them before the Lord. She poured out her soul as a drink offering. This act of intimate prayer was far more costly than throwing a few back. Hannah was sure her problems wouldn’t find resolution at the bottom of a wineskin; God was the only Spirit who could alleviate the ache of her heart.
Thousands of years later, we face the same choice. We can self-medicated (drown, numb and defer) or we can bring our injuries to the throne room for real treatment and healing.
Many of us choose the self-medication. We drink or shop or game or gamble our way around our problems, only to sober up and find them right right where we left them. God invites us to a higher level of living. He asks that we bring our troubles right to Him. He hopes that we’ll pour our soul out as Hannah did, and find real solutions in Him.
“I pour out before Him my complaint, before Him I tell my trouble.” (Psalm 142:2 NIV)
Going to God with our troubles is a far healthier way to work through them, better than going to the mall or the bar or even the movies. God alone supplies real answers to the problems that plague us. He has resolution for the complications in our story.
“Trust in Him at all times, you people, pour your hearts out to Him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8 NIV)
Lord, help us to choose You over self-medication. It’s a brave step, brining our problems into Your throne room, but we see that You alone have real resolution. Taking our troubles anywhere else is just antiseptic. Thank You, Lord, for receiving us (and our problems) into Your presence. We are so grateful for the relationship You offer. Amen.