The Spirit of Courage - Part V
by Dr. John Tetsola

Last month we saw that activating the blessings of courage helps us to press through every storm to get to our destination in God. Storms can cause our heart to fret, which activates fear and anxiety concerning our future. But courage fortifies the foundation of our pursuit and activates an anointing that strengthens our heart in God. Now, let’s observe how Hannah’s life in Scripture is a prophetic picture of how God forges the womb of a believer to release breakthrough.

COURAGE FOR BREAKTHROUGH

And 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. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
1 Samuel 1:2, 6

In the prophetic sense, the Hannah spirit is a womb that releases a God kind of breakthrough. It represents the believer who perseveres through seasons of impossibility without quitting what is right until the impossibilities become possible. Hannah and Peninnah signify the church or believer that is fruitful and productive, versus the church or believer that’s barren. The Bible says that Peninnah had children and Hannah did not, because God shut up her womb. Because Hannah had no children, (suggestive of the lack of success and fruitfulness), Peninnah would often taunt her. To taunt means ‘to reproach with jeers and to provoke with scornful or insulting words.’ How did Hannah persist in the things of God until her barren womb produced a Samuel? The answer is, she had to stay clear of destructive responses. The following are four destructive attitudes and responses that a Hannah church or believer must avoid during their barren season.

DESTRUCTIVE RESPONSES

• FIRST, the spirit of shame. Shame limits your ability and creates a barrier between your potential and the faith to believe for more. The Hannah believer must resist the belief that she will never become more than her present, because fruitfulness is lodged within her.

• SECOND, the spirit of bitterness. Bitterness keeps you locked in your place of pain and defeat. It releases anger towards anything that’s fruitful and progressive around you.

• THIRD, a distorted view of God. Never allow your circumstances to distort your view of God, causing you to see Him as being unfaithful to His Word. Your personal assumptions of God will either defeat you, or inspire you forward. You will never be positioned to receive from God if your view of Him is misconstrued.

• FINALLY, never allow yourself to be defined by the externals such as the taunts of the enemy, the size of your business, your bank balance, etc. Instead, be defined internally by God’s ultimate plan and vision for your life. At some point in our lives we will all find ourselves in a situation where as a Peninnah church or believer things are working, but as a Hannah church or believer nothing is working in spite of all that we do. But know this, there’s always a higher purpose for the fight you’re experiencing than the fight itself. Therefore, sharpen your courage in the battle, avoid all destructive responses, and let the pain of your experience position you for the breakthrough that God intends for your life.