Do You Still Believe?

“And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” - Luke 2:37-38 
 
Over the last few days, we have talked about waiting on God. Waiting is something we see countless times throughout Scripture. It is an essential part of our faith journey. When I think of waiting, I am reminded of a perfect example of this in Luke 2.

The woman in this story gives us a clear picture of what waiting looks like. After probing her story, if any of us had the choice to live her life, we would not. The woman’s name is Anna. This is a woman who, by ancient standards, comes from the “wrong side of the tracks.”
 
She comes from an insignificant tribe, she is a senior, she is not married, and she does not have kids.

In that culture, the defining measure of a woman’s significance and perceived contribution to society was predicated on getting married and having a child. And so, with four strikes against her, no one wanted to be Anna.  

Yet, this woman was a prophetess. That means she was someone who spoke on behalf of God. Luke 2:37-38 says, “And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
 
Here is a woman who, when everything was against her, still believed in God.  

The question is, do you? You might say, “Of course I believe in God. But I don’t understand why this or that is happening.
 
The thing is, God doesn’t always ask us to understand why... Do you think Anna knew why God allowed the deck to be stacked against her? Anna wasn’t mentioned in the Bible because she had adverse circumstances.  

We know her because despite those circumstances she continued to trust God and to believe. Despite what is going on in your life, do you still believe?