05/31/2026
YOU CAN do hard with Jesus.
Life is going to be hard. You can do hard with Jesus, or you can do hard alone. When you do hard with Jesus Christ, the hard becomes holy.
The holy woman Hannah is a scriptural example of this principle.
Hannah went to the house of the Lord, where she wept. In humble prayer she expressed to God the bitterness of her soul and her sorrowful spirit because she was childless. It wasn’t murmuring. It was raw honesty with Him about her deep disappointment and grief. She “poured out [her] soul before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:15), holding back nothing, even though He surely knew the depth of her pain.
And then Hannah vowed a vow—an expression of her willingness to consecrate that with which the Lord blessed her to His purposes. She boldly declared: “O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt … give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 1:11).
In time, Hannah was blessed with a son, Samuel. Once he was weaned, she honored her commitment by bringing the boy to the house of the Lord. She sang praises of thanksgiving to the Lord in prayer.
And then she left Samuel with Eli the priest, dedicating him wholly to God’s service. A child just weaned. Can you imagine it?
While she was later blessed with five more children, at the time she lent Samuel to the Lord, he was her only child. She could not have known that other children were coming. She hadn’t enjoyed all the tender moments that a mother longs for.
Each year when she and her husband came to the house of the Lord to make their yearly sacrifice, she brought a new little coat she had made for Samuel. What did she say when she saw him? How did her mother heart feel when she had to say goodbye all over again?
The scriptures do not describe her heartache. But I imagine it.
You see, Hannah was faithful, and life was still hard.
My Relief Society sisters include modern-day Hannahs, holy women who even in their adversity worship in the house of the Lord, fast, pour out their whole souls to the Lord in prayer, consecrate that with which the Lord has blessed them, keep the commitments they have made with Him, and trust in the Lord—His will for them and His timing.
