Is Peninnah Your Best Friend?

Although life is full of challenges and obstacles, the deliberate actions of others often become the fuel that ignites our passion to keep pursuing our purpose. I’ve seen this throughout my own life.

For me, it was my childhood pastor, who never let me return to college without laying hands on me in prayer. His wife would faithfully remind me, “Don’t leave town before seeing me and the Bishop.” I treasure memories of my mother lovingly making banana pudding—my favorite dessert—for me to take back to my dorm. During my high school and college years, my church youth director poured into me with encouragement and wisdom; today, she remains a lifelong friend.

Many people have invested in me over the years, and their belief in who God called me to be continues to sustain me. Their prayers still cover me today. Their deliberate actions lit a fire within me—empowering me to overcome adversity and press toward every God-ordained goal.

Encouragers can propel us forward, but adversity can be a motivator all its own. Never underestimate the power of a struggle. It can either break you or build you. It can serve as friend or foe. It can trip you—or train you. The difference lies in how you approach it.

Hannah’s struggle ultimately became her blessing. Sometimes God is trying to birth something in your life, and it will not come without travail.

This year, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Embrace hard things.” I heard it several times. Embrace challenges? Embrace discomfort? Embrace struggle? Really? Yet growth rarely happens under ideal circumstances—growth is birthed through pressure, stretching, and endurance.

Scripture confirms this truth:

“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus… No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs… Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”
—2 Timothy 2:3–5

And so we go to 1 Samuel 1.

Hannah’s Plight: Pain That Led to Purpose

Each year, Elkanah—Hannah’s husband and a descendant of the Levites—traveled to Shiloh, where the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were housed. Elkanah had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren, yet deeply loved. Peninnah had children, yet lacked the affection Elkanah gave freely to Hannah.

To solve the problem of childlessness, Elkanah took a second wife—a decision outside God’s original design for marriage. Like Abraham, he attempted to “help God out,” and anytime we operate outside God’s parameters, we invite unnecessary complications.

1 Samuel 1:6 says:
“Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.”

The Hebrew word for “provoke” is כָּעַס (kāʽas)—meaning to intentionally incite, to stir up anger, to irritate on purpose. This wasn’t accidental. Peninnah weaponized Hannah’s pain.

We don’t know Peninnah’s internal struggles, but we can recognize the patterns:
People who feel threatened, insecure, or overlooked often transfer their pain to others. Hurting people hurt people.

But notice something: Every time Peninnah provoked Hannah, Hannah went to God.

While Elkanah and Hannah faithfully traveled to Shiloh to worship, Scripture never mentions Peninnah doing so. Hannah had a personal relationship with God—a depth Peninnah did not share. Even the love of her husband could not comfort her soul; there are burdens only God can lift.

Every visit to Shiloh ended the same way—Hannah in tears, Peninnah smirking, and Hannah returning to God in prayer.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us we have a High Priest who feels our weaknesses and understands our pain.
Psalm 51:17 declares that God will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
Psalm 34:18 reminds us that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Hannah’s pain did not push her away from God—it pushed her toward Him.

She prayed with such intensity that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. But she was a desperate woman pouring out her soul.

Then Scripture gives us a silent clue: the presence of Eli’s wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:12–17).
Hannah wasn’t just praying for herself—her prayer intersected with a national need. Israel needed a righteous priest. God needed a prophet.

Her vow reflected her selflessness:
“Give me a son—and I will give him back to You.”

Her son Samuel would become:

• A prophet
• A judge
• A priest
• A Nazarite
• A moral and spiritual reformer in Israel

Hannah’s pain birthed a prophet.

When Adversity Becomes Your Prayer Partner

Adversity will either push you into God—or push you into defeat. Hannah chose God.

Her rival became the unexpected force that intensified her prayer life. Every provocation drove her deeper into worship. Every tear carried a petition. Every insult built endurance.

It is often the Peninnahs in our lives who push us closer to the throne of God. Their actions—though painful—become the chisels God uses to shape our purpose.

Hannah teaches us:

• Pain can drive you to purpose.
• Struggle can refine your character.
• Adversity can birth your greatest blessing.
• Prayer is the place where burdens become breakthroughs.

God sees every tear and hears every whispered prayer. When the season feels barren, He is planting something beneath the surface.

Final Encouragement

Your encouragers sow confidence into your spirit.
Your Peninnahs sow fire into your drive.
Both play a role in your destiny.

And just like Hannah, your tears may be watering the very ground where God is preparing your miracle.

Embrace hard things.
There is something God is trying to birth in you—
and it will come through prayer, perseverance, and unshakeable faith.

Prayer

Father, in the name of Jesus,
Help me to embrace the hard things You allow in my life. When challenges arise, strengthen my faith instead of my fear. Like Hannah, turn my pain into prayer and my tears into purpose. Teach me to see adversity not as a setback, but as preparation for what You are birthing in me.

Lord, use every struggle to draw me closer to You. Refine my heart, anchor my spirit, and help me endure as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I trust that You see me, You hear me, and You will remember me just as You remembered Hannah.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.