Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 1 Samuel 1:17-18
Thousands of people would stream past Eli the priest as he sat beside a post of the tabernacle. This was the time of year when pilgrims would flood into Shiloh to make their annual sacrifices. Families and individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and economic statuses would arrive from every area of Israel. As the people came and went, Eli watched from his seat and would take notice of some of them, but few of them would stand out in any way. But one woman did. Eli was drawn by the intensity of her prayers, although he mistook it at first for drunkenness. The old priest was deeply impressed with Hannah’s depth of passion in her prayers. In response, he spoke to her words of peace and promise. Those words made a world of difference to Hannah, and transformed her entire life. God was going to answer her prayer, and she was satisfied. Her sorrow was gone. Her adversary’s arrows had lost their barbs. Her appetite returned, and her heart was joyful. All because of a few words of peace and promise from the priest. What words can we speak today that will have an impact on others around us?
Granted, none of us are like Eli. Although a failure in many ways, Eli was the high priest, and his words carried great weight as God’s representative in Israel at that time. When you and I speak to people, we can’t make any promises regarding their prayers or needs. But we can speak words of peace. And we can refer people to God’s promises that are precious to us. And God can use those words to be a blessing greater than we often realize.
Eli offered both peace and promise. Both of those are scarce commodities in our world today. In fact, there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked – Isaiah 57:21. True peace is found only in knowing Jesus Christ as our Mediator with God. Because of circumstances, many Christians fail to enter into the peace that God has for them. For them, words of peace from another Christian can be a wonderful blessing. To those who don’t know our Lord, the message of the Gospel is one of peace, and we offer this message to them, along with the testimony of what God’s peace has done for us. Words of promise shared with another Christian are always precious, and can be a wonderful comfort. To the unsaved who know only the broken promises of earth, the revelation that a loving God offers unbreakable promises can bring them to repentance and faith in Christ.
We ought never to withhold words of peace and promise, because somebody might be in desperate need of hearing them today. – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/ZtoqoXGbO8s