Quote from “Operating In The Light: Power Of The Process Preceding The Performance Of Purpose”!
“When we make the choice to walk through our open doors, we leave our adversaries behind, muting their voices and no longer giving them our attention.”
‘Penina who???’ Yes, that is the question! There are no references to this persistent adversary once Hannah performs her purpose and conceives Samuel. As we are introduced to this family initially, we find that Penina was having a major impact on Hannah. Penina’s continued productivity would have been quite intimidating to someone who was producing; but to Hannah who was barren, each birth probably felt like a stab to the heart. Her inability to conceive would make Penina’s repeated conceptions extremely difficult to endure. But the mocking… It’s bad enough when you can’t seem to do what you’ve been purposed to do, but it’s even more humiliating when someone who seems to easily do what you can’t seem to do rubs your face in it. Their ability to achieve what you’ve been struggling with takes a back seat to their constant persecution.
The Bible never says that Penina left the scene, yet she very abruptly left the 1 Samuel narrative. It is when Hannah pushes past her own personal feelings and yielded herself to bringing God glory, that her womb was opened and she moved from barrenness to fruitfulness. Although the Bible tells us that Penina was a persistent tormentor in 1 Samuel 1, transition happened and the Bible doesn’t speak of her again. The focus of Hannah’s discontent is suddenly and totally eradicated!
It is Hannah’s fruitfulness that facilitates Penina’s vanishing act. So what fueled this transition from ‘Tormented’ to ‘Triumphant’ for Hannah? Adversaries have one primary function: to keep us from walking through our God-ordained open doors. An honest and open conversation with God will help us to see from God’s perspective, identify and access our open doors and silence our adversaries! When we change our perspective, we change our posture. When we change our posture, we change our position. When we change our position, we release ourselves to God’s purpose. Believe God, embrace His will for your life and fire every one of your adversaries. And when those who witnessed them tormenting you ask about them, just ask them the question, “Penina, who?” as you walk through your open doors!