Read Luke 2:36-38

Faith: Seeing things the way God says they are and not how our eyes see them.

How many moments in our lives do we walk through situations or circumstances without faith? The only perspective we see is our own.

Take Anna for example. From Scripture, we know that she was very old and that she was only married 7 years before becoming a widow. We know that, for all of the time she was a widow, 84 years, she never left the temple. She continually prayed and fasted. When she saw Jesus, she knew. The Lord fulfilled His promise and sent His Son to redeem us.

“She…continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Put yourself in Anna’s shoes. If you lost your spouse or someone closest to you, would you spend every waking moment serving the Lord?

In my opinion, after Anna lost her husband, the culture said she wasn’t worth anything because she did not have a husband. However, the Lord had a different calling for her and, instead of seeing things the way the world said they were, she chose to see God’s perspective. The Scripture points out that she gave thanks to God after she saw Jesus.

This tells me that for 84 years, she prayed and fasted for the redemption of the world and, once God fulfilled the promise He gave since the beginning of the earth, she gave thanks because it was finished!

How many times in our lives do we lose something but, instead of looking at it through the lens of our sadness or despair, we see God through it all and pray for His promises to be seen and known?

Anna chose faith above all else. She chose to serve God until Christ came and continued to serve Him by spreading the news.

What lens do you see your life through? Do you hold steadfast to the truth that God has spoken? To hold firm to the faith He has gifted us with? Do you see things the way He says they are and not how our past, culture or eyes see them?

Kelly Lawson