1 Samuel 1

   ¹Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

   ²And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

   ³And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

   ⁴And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

   ⁵But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

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

   ⁷And 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.

   ⁸Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

   ⁹So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

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

   ¹¹And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

   ¹²And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

   ¹³Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

   ¹⁴And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

   ¹⁵And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

   ¹⁶Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

   ¹⁷Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

   ¹⁸And 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.

   ¹⁹And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

   ²⁰Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

   ²¹And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly

We know that  we are his bride. The bridegroom desires a patient, devoted and passionate bride! He is looking for the bride that has faith in Him,  true faith. God moves and acts on our faith.

Here is another thought:


I was telling a friend the other day, God never leaves you alone. He always leaves you with some one or something to hold on to. My mother passed away when I was very young. But God didn't leave me motherless. He, if no one else was my mother at times when I needed Him most. I never had a sister or brother, but He has remained my closest friend, a friend that has been closer than a brother. And really its not a cliche, its the truth.

God also provides a covering for every one of his children. But He also gives us a free will. God provides every child with a father. But not every father does the will of the Lord and steps into his proper place as the covering or protector of the child's physical welfare. God gives every person a mother to attend to our psychological welfare, our spiritual inheritance. Not every mother clocks in for work so to speak. Everyone He created has a role to fill , a calling or anointing in the earth. Tragedy occurs when we don't step into our anointing. Since sin is in the world, and the devil is constantly looking to see who he can kill, steal from or destroy, he naturally seeks  the innocent, the unprotected. Tragedies occur. But what the devil doesn't understand is that God uses even him! Testing produces testimony. Pressing produces oil! There is NOTHING that the devil can do to you that God can't correct and heal you from. Nothing. 

Say if you have memories of being raped as a child, for example. Your covering was gone. He had put someone on the earth to make sure that you were protected and they didn't hold up their end of the deal. Don't think that God will let the devil have the last word in this situation.  God can use the atrocity.  He can heal your body and your mind. And once you recover, God can use you to testify to others about His grace mercy and healing in your life. If you suffer great financial loss and then God brings you back into a wealthy place, you can bless the Lord and testify that your God is in fact your Jehovah Jira, your true provider!

God keeps us. He is always there. He will never ultimately leave or forsake you. I know at times it seems as if God never hears our prayers. We say, 'Where are you Lord?" But always remember, the teacher never speaks during the test.

Love Laurie Anne

Well 1st off I would like to let you know, that when you have been born again and have been accepted into Jesus' Kingdom, then when you recieve him (The Holy Ghost) then you have been equiped with Power from on high.  Meaning Mark 16:15-18, Sickness is part of a Strongman Spirit of Infirmity.  Sickness has no right in our bodies when we are equiped with the Holy Ghost.  Jesus never got sick, and after the Paul and Peter (etc.) recieved the Holy Ghost, we never heard of them getting sick.  So if the person has truely been converted into the Kingdom, then they have the power to cast down any devil trying to bring harm upon them. 

So

Is God responsible for our health or fellow men? God gave us trees, grass, plants, food, water  and a beautiful earth. Fresh air and sunshine. Clean rain that we could drink as it was falling. We wanted convenience.

My answer would be God is not to blame. But mankind is.  Heaven is when we have the promise of no more pain or sorrow. It was never promised to us here on Earth.

Children are born with handicaps and diseases and contact diseases after birth. Was the mother exposed to something man made during pregnancy. Children are receiving vaccines that are causing them to become mentally retarded. Again man made.
People smoke and are exposed to other's smoking. There is exhaust from cars that I am helping to put in the air. Can we blame that on God or ourselves?
If we had left God's earth as He created it years ago and not wanted more and more, would we have half the illnesses we have today? If you think about how the majority of people that die today and why their health is bad, the majority of the time it's not from anything God's gave us in the beginning on this Earth.
Car wrecks-man made, diving accidents-man made, cancer-most likely man made, bronical problems-man made, birth defects and handicaps- most likely man made. In most instances, this is not our fault directly, it has evolved over time and chemical made by large corporations.

Tornados, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes is nature. That is a question that could be wondered. Why would God wipe out so many? This is supposed to happen a lot in the end days.

We are living in times that are so unGodly. Men having babies, cloning, gays marrying, abortions, murdering and raping of innocent people, stealing, lying and adultry.

Children that are abused. Man being evil.

The dam that broke and flooded New Orleans was man made.

It is difficult to know how we will respond during times of great loss or sorrow. I have known people that love the Lord and have suffered tremendous losses and some in tragic circumstances. I have know people that questioned and turned away from God because of this and some that got even closer to God. Is it a test of our faith? We don't know the answers and won't as long as we are living on this Earth.  We are on Earth and anything goes. We are not in Heaven yet. We are not sinless. Babies and children that suffer is beyond understanding. There are so many man made material and products that have polluted the air, food, and God's nature. We are exposed, our unborn and born children are exposed. How can we blame God. There are pesticides that our unborn children are exposed to that causes death and birth defects.
We have been exposed to chemicals that cause cancer and other diseases. We use microwaves, pesticides, cars, products from companies that pollute the air.

During the end days we are going to see much suffering and injustices. We are seeing it now. Men are the ones that are making decisions that are hurting us. God gave us His law and men are ignoring it and enforcing their own laws that are not just and protect evil people. Not God.

I remember when my mother was terminally ill my question was why  her. Mother's question to me was why someone else? This really made me stop and think. My mother had cancer that probably was caused by something in the environment. Not something that God made. Doctors made a mistake in her diagnosis and treated her incorrectly. Not God.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us!"

Romans 8:17: "We must also share in his suffering, if we are to share in his glory."

John 16:33: "In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."

Should we be blaming God or man?

Kenny,
Then Praise be to God. Do what you think will best honor the Lord and reach people that are suffering. Love you, Anita