“Not so, my Lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:13)

Do you find yourself going through life just managing to keep it together, to keep yourself in? Have you ever found yourself scared of what would happen if you simply let it all out? Imagine a lake filled with water but that water never moves. It becomes stagnant, filled with bacteria.  The water is vile and breeds all kinds of diseases.

This is what often times happens to our soul. We keep everything in so long that our souls begin to breed the diseases, of bitterness, distrust, selfishness, and the list goes on. We try to so hard to keep everything together that we soon find that we are not giving anything to anyone. Then we wonder why no one gives to us. 

What we do in times when we have been hurt define us. How we react can make a lasting impact on the state of our souls, affecting our whole life and those we love.  A lot of us end up blaming God, or those of us who are more passive aggressive simply choose to ignore his presence. But there are the few who do choose to still remember him and remember that he is good no matter what our circumstances look like.

There was a woman in the bible named Hannah who was one of the few. She was deeply hurt because she remained barren for years while her sister-wife had plenty of children.  At this moment Hannah had a choice, she could have blamed God and turned away from God but she didn’t. Hannah went before the Lord and begin to pour out her soul before him. She did poured herself out to the point Eli, the prophet, thought she was drunk.

God heard her when she poured out and gave her a son named Samuel. This son became a prophet for the nation of Israel and anointed King David who the lineage of Jesus would be traced back to. 

Her decision to pour out allowed God to fulfill the desires of her heart and also to carry forth his plan of salvation for the world. 

Today, I want to challenge you to stop holding everything in before the Lord. Whatever you hold back and don’t allow to flow out of you will begin to breed bacteria in your soul. When you decide to pour it out, God will heal the barrenness of your life and give you the desires of your heart. Your pouring out is the catalyst for God’s will to be done in the earth.

Hold nothing back! Live a life poured out before him!

Written By: Danielle O'Neil @danielleoneil.com