The Widow Waiting on a Messiah

Heart Prep

God, help me to see who You want me to be.

Luke 2:38 "At that very moment, she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued
to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.“

I love little snapshots of people. In just a verse or two God tells us all He decides we need to know about a person. It’s almost like their Instagram bio, just a two-line note to tell us who they really are. That’s what we get about Anna in Luke 2:36-38. We know she was a widow, that she had only been married for 7 years when her husband died, and that since then she never left the temple. She was advanced in age at this point, which is a nice way of saying she was old. Some estimate that she was 84, but no one knows for sure. We do know one very important thing, she served night and day, fasting and praying, for most of her life. She was devoted to the Lord and waiting on Him to fulfill His prophecies.

Can you imagine that? Anna had every right to remarry and go on to live a life with her husband. However, she chose not to. She chose to devote herself, instead, to serving God with no other obligations. She spent night and day at the temple caring for and praying for others.

In verse 38, we see something incredible happen. Anna becomes one of the first people to see the Messiah. All her years of faithfulness to the Lord is rewarded in a BIG way. She sees the Messiah with her own eyes. The Bible tells us that she began giving thanks to God and continued to speak about Him to all those who were looking! She became one of the very first missionaries of Jesus Christ as she started telling everyone that the One they were waiting on was finally here!

Life Application

What would your snapshot be if the Bible included two verses about you?

Something I want to remember from this is....

How does this change my life and what are my next steps?