What A Woman

# 71 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 4:19-22, “Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not fear, for you have borne a son." But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured." (1 Sam 4:19-22) I wish Phineas' wife had a name. What a woman! Oh the pain and scandal she endured being married to that sleeping around scoundrel Phineas. But she hung in there honoring her vows. When the news of the capture of the ark of the covenant, and the death of her father-in-law and her husband hit her she went into early labor. The well meaning women who were attending her sought to comfort her through her labor, but they missed the real source of her travail. She wasn't listening to what they were saying except to hear that she had given birth to a son, whom she promptly named Ichabod which means the glory has departed. Her dying words were a lament over the spiritual state of the land brought on in part buy the actions of her father-in-law and her husband. This was her travail. And it proved her faith in the Lord. The glory of God mattered to this woman to her dying breath. I wonder how such an attitude would affect us today. How would we live if the glory of God mattered to us in all things? 1Co 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.