Revealing the Tapestry: Revealing God's Purpose for Your Life Through the Study of I Samuel

By Marianne Snyder

We will embark upon a fascinating study through the first book of Samuel. Along the way God in His amazing splendor will reveal His beautiful tapestry of time and eternity. We will learn how each of us can find God's purpose for our own lives. This journey will take us through the adventures of kings and fugitives, the bloodshed and heart ache of the innocent, the victories of the mighty and the love of the loyal. There are kingdoms to conquer and hearts to be stolen all in this study before us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493165568

Marianne Snyder

Marianne Snyder is a mother of four living in Phoenix, Arizona where her husband is an educator at the middle school level. Marianne herself has also taught for ten years prior to raising her children. She is now a stay at home mom writing and homeschooling her youngest. As she brings the fascinating characters of I Samuel and intertwines their life experiences with ours today, she is hoping you will take this opportunity to gaze upon the divine design of the tapestry set before us.

Book preview

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

God Is Gracious

I Samuel 1-2

Unscripted Prayer

I Samuel 2:1-11

Contempt For His Offering

I Samuel 2:12-36

Here I Am

I Samuel 3

Entangled

I Samuel 4-7

Always The Best

I Samuel 8-12

Heart Of Obedience

I Samuel 13-15

All It Takes Is One

I Samuel 16-17

Covenant Of Love

I Samuel 18

Perfect Jealousy

I Samuel 19

Two Peas In A Pod

I Samuel 20

The Armor Of God

I Samuel 21-22

The Hollow Of His Hand

I Samuel 23-25

The Road To Endor

I Samuel 26-30

His Tapestry

I Samuel 31

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my wonderful husband Jeff and my loving children Shayna, Shanay Angelica, Jayden, and Jordyn. They have always been such an amazing source of inspiration for me. Each day with them is an absolute gift. Their love and dedication has been beyond what I could ever imagine. God has truly blessed me through each of them.

My parents Margaret Jean and Richard Van Pelt have been such an inspiration and wonderful influence, as well. Never as a child, did I ever have to wonder if I was loved. That in turn provided me with the assurance that there was truly a loving God in this world and that I belonged to Him. I realize that many children do not have the opportunity to see firsthand the Christ—like love that my parents so graciously bestowed upon me. Because of that fact, my heart has always been broken for the orphans, neglected, and abused children of our world. Through this study I hope to show my love to them with my financial gifts.

Just like everyone else, my life’s tapestry has been cluttered with the unsightly knots and mishaps that from the underside often looked turbulent, chaotic and ill-kept. But faithfully, God reveals a little at a time how each of those disappointments, difficult struggles and unexpected turns have in essence created a beautiful tapestry. Ultimately when that fascinating tapestry is revealed it shows the faithfulness and sovereignty of Our Loving Father.

INTRODUCTION

As we study God’s Word, we realize that just like in our own lives, He has intricately woven a beautiful masterpiece. As He unfolds it just a little at a time, He reveals to us this amazing story of His love.

You will soon find yourself intrigued with each and every character as you begin this fascinating study of the book of I Samuel. You will see how God has used the events of their lives to weave together a divine destiny. And as we continue in our study, hopefully, you will see God’s hand in your own life, as well. Each of us has a history of events that have shaped our existence. We too have a life woven by the hands of the master as each knotted thread is woven and intertwined with the next. Rarely, do we see the beautiful pattern of what is to come until the days are long past. Looking back upon the years, we must be enthralled by the complexity that each day individually weaves into the pattern of this splendid masterpiece that has become our own unique story.

You will have the opportunity to intensely study this captivating book of I Samuel. Each lesson provides you a list of recommended reading. This is our core text for each lesson. An enrichment list is also provided for those who hunger for God’s Word. Through this you will become more aware of how the scriptures build upon each other. Using the list will enrich your learning and provide interesting and significant information for each lesson. Provided will be a memory verse to carry in your heart throughout your day. Treasure it and it will guide you. The key verse, in a nutshell, will give insight to the content of each lesson. As you turn the pages; you will be invited into a real world of today’s busy life. Each story embraces the lesson we read in our text. Each of us on some level will be able to identify with the experiences that are recounted. As we share with each other we will no doubt find fascinating similarities.

Here is our time to get to know each other and find out just how God fits into our lives. Through these stories and experiences, I’m hoping what you are reading will enable you to see yourself in your own experiences more clearly. Through them, it is my hope that you will see how desperately God loves you. I’m hoping you will witness His sovereignty as He orchestrates each encounter as one day weaves into the next thus creating the years of history that is divinely displayed in our lives

You will also have an opportunity to bask in a time of self-reflection, application, review and even a small group discussion, if you so choose. No matter what your schedule, no matter how hectic your week may become, I have tried to design this study with you in mind.

You will have a chance to meet my family, my friends and relive some of my experiences. I am a busy mom of four and find myself with a significant time management challenge. I think many moms can identify with that particular challenge. We all know how difficult it is to find those valuable teachable moments in the hustle and bustle of life. This study is flexible and can be used on a daily or weekly basis. It can be done privately and individually or you can meet a dear friend over lunch or even weekly in a group to discuss and improvise on each lesson. At the end of each lesson you will find a scripture prayer. These are for you to read and study. If you choose, you may feel led to recite them as your closing prayer. You’ll notice that scriptures are cited for you and can be used as an enrichment tool. You may read the passages so as to understand the context of each verse and how it pertains to the content and text of each lesson. May you experience the awesome power of praying the scriptures. I’m hoping that through sharing my life experiences, that you too will be aware of how Our Amazing God has the time and the love to be a part of anyone’s life experiences, yes, especially yours. I pray that the pages of God’s Word will come alive for you as they have for me. I’m hoping the people you meet on each and every page will have a message of understanding and wisdom that you will retrieve from each lesson.

You are welcome to make this study whatever you wish to make it. My prayer is that as you study I Samuel it will bless you. My hope is that you will experience an insatiable hunger for God’s Word. May it gently heal you and radically change you, so that you will again fall in love with the God of the Universe.

GOD IS GRACIOUS

I Samuel 1-2

. . . . We are beginning a fascinating journey through the first book of Samuel. We will meet incredible people and follow their life experiences. God reveals His Word to us as if unfolding a beautiful tapestry. We will be amazed at its intricate perfection. At first as we study through these lessons, we may not understand its pattern or its destiny. But all along, if we are faithful, God will reveal its splendor to us. So now, if you will peer into God’s Word with me, He has wonderful blessings and gifts to bestow upon us. Our journey will include treacherous adventures of kings and fugitives, the bloodshed and heartache of the innocent, the victories of the mighty and the love of the loyal. There are kingdoms to conquer and hearts to be stolen all in the book before us.

Let’s begin this study with the woman named Hannah. Numerous generations later she has the ability to pull us right into real life. For the despair she is experiencing is real to all of us whether it is physical barrenness or barrenness of the soul. We can identify with her seemingly hopelessness and anguish as we ourselves may have weathered a season of barrenness. Let’s define barrenness. Perhaps for some of us it can be an emotional emptiness where the desires of our heart are nowhere to be found. Perhaps, our desires included children, a mate, fulfillment… a purpose. Each of us has been there somehow, sometime; some of us to different degrees and some of us with different heartache.

Truly, some of us have been right where Hannah was… childless. We may know that heartache and recognize her grief. Perhaps, we have known the taunts of our rival. No doubt, it is the enemy within ourselves telling us that our worthiness is somehow compromised. Perhaps we have our purpose tangled and intertwined within our desires. We only see our worth through the eyes of our accomplishments… . As we read Hannah’s story we are introduced to her husband with his compassion and empathy. It definitely has to be a frustrating time for Elkanah. He is doing his best to fill in all the gaps in an attempt to make life as bright as possible for Hannah. When we are hurting, so often those