Post Traumatic Redeeming Euphoria

UV 1641/10000 Post Traumatic Redeeming Euphoria
Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
1 Samuel 1 v 28

The concept of lending to the Lord is an unique one, not heard of in so called secular or mainstream literature. Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord about her barrenness and the Lord enabled her to conceive and have a child- the great prophet Samuel, the king maker, the counsellor and teacher to a great shepherd-king David. The Lord heard her cry and therefore, the child was named “Samuel” or “heard of the Lord.” Naming a child was like shaping an arrowhead in biblical times and was not taken casually as we do today since we are more concerned about how it sounds than what the child means to us and what we want the child to mean with his or her life. Hannah prayed for a male child primarily to rid herself of the shame of barrenness, to overcome the insults and taunts of the other wife of Elkanah, her husband. Hannah made a vow that she would dedicate the child for the Lord’s work all his life.

The idea of giving back to the Lord willingly what He has graciously granted us is behind the concept of lending to the Lord. Both Elkanah and Hannah were faithful in keeping their vows to the Lord. They were consequently greatly blessed and further they had three sons and two daughters but Samuel remains to this day the special one. Hannah’s song of adoration and thanksgiving that she sang once her prayer was answered and she bore her first son Samuel is a complete philosophy and theology of life. Psychology talks of the phenomenon of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but Hannah like any believer today who has his prayer heard and answered underwent “post traumatic redeeming euphoria”( PTRE) or in to put it simply, “boundless joy.” Hannah talked with the Lord and walked with the Lord. The Lord “remembering” her was sufficient to open her barren womb. She was then filled with as much joy as she experienced anguish while she was barren and taunted. A desire fulfilled through hearing our prayers is sweet to the soul. It is like marrow and fatness of the finest meat to our souls. The joy is great as we have evidence in our answer to our prayer that the Lord lives and that He redeems us. We realize like Hannah that no one but the Lord could have heard us and answered us in this manner. The euphoria overflowed to the next generation and Samuel worshipped the Lord as a full time vocation. He was dedicated to be a priest whose hair would not be cut with a razor but the Lord raised him up to be a great prophet in Israel. The birth of a boy child to Hannah was not just another birth of a baby but it meant redemption and salvation to Hannah. He in turn became an instrument of proclaiming the salvation of the Lord to successive generations.

When we lend to the Lord, He will not become our debtor. He will bless and multiply many times what we have lent Him. In place of the one child, Hannah lent to the Lord, she was given five more. It is also written in scripture that when we give to the poor, we are lending to the Lord. When we give to the Lord, we are casting our bread on water. The flow of blessings will come back to us in our hour of need. It is also promised that when we consider the poor in our hearts, the Lord will be with us in our time of trouble, safeguard and deliver us. Like Hannah, we too should bring up our children as people who know God, who walk and talk with Him, befriend Him as they would a dearest friend and worship Him. What we obtain in prayer is special and dedicated back to the Lord. We shall not consider it lightly or take it casually. It is “korban” as in Greek and not as in Hebrew. For in Hebrew, it means “burnt offering” while in Greek, it means “consecrated” or living sacrifice.
Prateep V Philip
New concept in psychology evolved in this UV: Post Traumatic Relieving Euphoria (PTRE)