And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb….1 Sam 1:6

We all have a Peninnah dwelling intimately with us. She baits us periodically with the intent of puncturing the joys and peace we ought to derive in our marriage to Elkannah. She seeks to harass us into a mindset where Joy in nothing else but Christ alone seems implausible. She achieves this by always drawing our attention to what is lacking in our testimony (e.g. our closed womb,: not yet married, not yet conceived, not yet prospering etc..); in hopes that we will be unable to daily enjoy our walk with Christ whom we are espoused to.

Whilst our first instincts would be to identify Peninnah as a mother-in-law/cousin/half-sister/brother/or some other individual who is a constant thorn in our flesh, We couldn’t be further from the truth.

Peninnah our adversary resides so close to us because she is a part of us. She is the voice of our flesh and mind (old life) which speaks and desires things contrary to the Spirit of God in us. She has and always will be jealous of the new man in us when we become born-again. For as long as our certain parts of our lives remains ‘fruitless’, she will possess the upper hand and will constantly be a source of torment to our soul.

You may recognise her voice as that inner voice from your mind:

  • The voice of ridicule, which enjoys reminding you that your not yet married at xx age.
  • The voice of scorn which throws your past mistakes and failures in your career/relationship in your face, wanting you to feel like there is no other hope.
  • The voice of disbelief which often points out to you all the unfulfilled promises of God in your life, and gives you reasons to doubt His faithfulness.
  • The voice of vexation that aggregates and summarises your marital/spiritual/economic or social life as being utterly lame.
  • The voice that ultimately goads you to ‘Curse God and Die’ (spiritually)


Peninnah’s adversarial provocation of our soul is targeted at bringing about 5 specific outcomes in us:

1: To cause us to Fret:   

1 Sam 1:6 ‘And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her to fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb’…

Christ’s specific instruction to us in Phil 4:6 is to ‘be anxious for nothing’ .
Peninnah’s voice of provocation will always seek to put us in distress; to cause us vexation of soul, by pointing out the one thing that remains a sore point in our lives where we are yet to receive an answer from God.
When we fall into this trap of fretting, we displease our Elkannah and begin to slide into disbelief in Him and ultimately disobedience to his commands.

2. To cause us to Weep:

1 Sam 1:7.’And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the House of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

There’s a common adage which says that ‘the one who weeps will be partially blind        unable to see clearly enough on account of the tears blocking his eyes’.
Having pushed us into the 1st trap, the next step in Peninnah’s provocation is to cause us to weep and shed tears. Just as Hagar wept for her child in the desert and was blind to the spring of water close by her in Gen 16:7, so also Penninah’s provocation seeks to hinder our revelation of Christ, and to blind out eyes of hope and the eyes of our spirit.

When our hearts weep, it may be difficult to clearly see the truth about God’s faithfulness and character. This state of mind is usually precursor to making wrong choices. (Ask Sarah)

3. To cause us NOT to eat:

1 Sam 1:7.’And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the House of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

The word of God is the Christian’s daily bread. It is so vital that Psalm 104:15 tells us that God gives ‘bread which sustains the heart of man’. The Angel who provided for Elijah during his flight from Jezebel also gave him bread 2ce, calling him to ‘arise and eat for the journey is too great for thee’; implying that without bread he would not have the strength to finish the journey.

The provocation of our soul by the old man of the flesh resident in our minds having caused us to fret, and made us weep, will always seek to consolidate its gains by causing us not to eat the word of God. The very thing we cannot afford to snub is the word of God no matter our current circumstances.

The first wrong choice we make in emotional reaction to Penninah’s provocation will be ‘not to eat’. Ironically As we fall into gradual depression and hopelessness, our bibles no longer begin to hold much attraction to us, and slowly and surely we begin to abstain from reading it. Penninah’s subtle notion that the word of God to us is a lie may begin to take hold, especially when co-joined with the reminder that some of the bibles promises to us remain unfulfilled. The further we abstain from eating the word of God (our bread of Life), the weaker we become, making us easy prey to suggestions of the enemy of our souls such as ‘curse God and die’ (i.e. forget about God and do it your way).

4. To ensure heart grief:

1 Sam 1:8.Then said Elkannah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am I not better to thee than ten sons?.

If we fall for step 1, we backslide into step 2, from where we descend further downwards into step 3. And so it goes until it becomes a self-sustaining domino effect. If not interrupted, our Hearts falter into a perpetual state of grief.

Before now we most likely have paid more heed to Peninnah’s voice than we have to the promptings of the Holy Spirit or encouragement of other brethren in the Lord.
So at this juncture our Elkannah (the Lord) will often need to step in to arrest our decline either through a prophetic word of encouragement, a timely sermon from the pulpit, a direct visitation in a dream or vision, or a myriad of other ways.

Whatever His approach, the end result is always to remind us to focus on Him and remind us of His word. Sadly when many of us sink to this level, our hearts can be very difficult to reach. We begin to invariably block the ears/eyes of our hearts to any other input outside the ‘opening of our womb’ at that moment in time. The matter of our closed womb may have become an idol in our hearts and a stronghold in our minds.

5. To put us into bitterness of Soul:

1 Sam 1:10. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

This is the final destination of Penninah’s provocation. To bring us to a place where we have bitterness of soul. She is all too aware that the ‘root of bitterness’ taking hold in our hearts is the one thing which the bible explicitly tells us will frustrate (reduce the efficacy) of God’s grace in our lives (ref: Heb 12:15). Without grace what do we have?Wrath. Hopelessness. Death.

In Summary:

Hannah’s struggle was a painful one, but ultimately a victorious one.
She renders a very excellent testimony in 1 Sam 2. Yet she could have spared
herself so much of the anxiety, heartache and bitterness of Soul had she:
i – Understood the motive and purpose behind Peninnah’s provocation, and
ii – Reacted to it Spiritually (By the Word) and not Emotionally as many of us are wont to do so often.

Hannah’s emotional engagement and reaction to Penninah’s provocation meant she spent her 6 of her 7 years in waiting for answers in anguish, pain and bitterness of soul.
We are Human after all, and we all crack under sustained pressure and provocation from the adversary of our souls. Yet the Lord always provides a way of escape, if only we will open our eyes, arise and stand still on his word and promises: we will surely see the salvation of the Lord.

Thank God for Hannah’s victory, yet she could just as easily have sabotaged herself by seeking out an alternative palliative outside the dealings of God, which would have the resultant effect of bringing a permanent thorn in the flesh the way Sarah’s decision to give Hagar to Abraham brought about Ishmeal. A consequence we still suffer till this generation.

Have you been having a sorely terrible time of marriage? Has it been on the long march to collapse?
Have you been suffering terrible delay in getting married? in giving birth? in having financial or ministry breakthrough?
You seem like you have prayed endlessly and yet heaven seems unconcerned…?
To cap it off, does it seem like you have been at war with yourself internally and also facing external effrontery on account of that 1 thing that is considered to be lacking in your life ..or that 1 thing you are still waiting for the Lord to do?

Do NOT take the bait and give Penninah’s room to provoke you into making a wrong choice such as ‘Curse God and Die’ (spiritually). Rather I encourage you today to move beyond the voice of peninnah by making a choice to focus in on the reassuring voice of the Lord who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. He will make all things beautiful in His time.

Amen.

p.s
You cannot pray peninnah to death. She never really dies. But from Hannah’s story we witness Peninnah falls silent at the end of Chapter 1.
If we allow God to carry us into the chapter 2 of our lives, Peninnah becomes permanently silenced as we witness overflowing testimonies.

p.p.s
We will discuss how to transit from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 of our walk.

Grace to us all

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