As children, some of us may have experienced taunting from our classmates or friends. It is interesting to see how we, as children, responded when we experienced such taunting. Some of us may have just laughed it off and continued to play with our classmates or friends; some of us may have felt hurt for a little while and even said: "I don't want to friend you!", and then later snapped out of it and still continued to play with our classmates or friends; yet there are some of us who are quite sensitive and easily hurt, and we may alienate ourselves from our classmates or friends. The way we respond could sometimes be brought forward to adulthood, depending on our upbringing, how much self-esteem we have, and how much trust we have in ourselves and in God.
In today's reading, we see how Hannah was quite hurt when Peninnah had taunted her year after year, every time they went up to the temple of the Lord, because Peninnah had children and Hannah was barren. Even though Elkanah her husband loved her more, Hannah was unable to come out from wallowing in hurt, self-pity and resentment. Hannah could have also wondered whether God would rescue her from her barrenness. But as we would later discover, God did not abandon Hannah and Hannah would later be freed from her barren state.
If we were facing the same situation as Hannah, how would we respond? Would we be able to come out of our anxiety, our fears, our hurt, self-pity and resentment? Would we be willing to trust in God and let Him rescue us or do what is best for us? God's ways are not our ways, and sometimes God may be preparing something better for us. It is a question of how patient we are and how willing we are to let God be our help and guide.
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