WHO IS THE STAR OF YOUR LIFE'S STORY?

Do you enjoy going to the movies?  Jim and I enjoy a good movie, but we went more often when we were younger and could find what we’d call a “good” family type movie. 

Occasionally though, we’ll find one that appeals.  We’re not ones to stick around after the lights go out to watch the credits, but lately I’ve been noticing that some people do.  They stay in their seats until all the credits have rolled and the lights go up completely.  I wonder why.  Are they looking for the name of someone they know?  Are they checking to see if that guy in the yellow hat was the same guy who played the cop in last week’s episode of their favorite TV show?  Maybe some day I’ll ask someone. 

While on my way to Walmart today I heard a radio pastor give an intriguing movie illustration, followed by this question:  If your life was a movie, would you be the star, or would you find yourself with just a bit part, your name not even in the credits?  Most people, I think, would be inclined to answer, well, if it’s the movie of MY life, of course I’d be the star!  I’d be the most important person in it!  Everything would revolve around my milestones, my decisions, my relationships, my actions and how they all affect ME!  His question started me thinking:

Is that what my life looks like?  Is that how I want to live it, with me at the center? Is that consistent with my Christian faith?

A small group of women has been meeting at my home this fall to study Nancy Guthrie’s book, The Lamb of God:  Seeing Jesus in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  It has been a wonderful study, giving us a much expanded view of what the Lord had been doing in that day to make Himself known, how it all points to Jesus, and how it impacts our lives as Christians today. 

This week, in reference to Deuteronomy 6, verse 5:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

we were asked the question:

What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?  In other words, what does it mean to make GOD and not ME the star of my life’s story?

I had to think about that long and hard.  The author helped get me started.  She said:

·       “(Loving) the Lord with all our heart” – means that nothing, and no one else, competes with our affections.

I have so many things that compete with God for my affections – my children, my husband, my desire to do things MY way even if it contradicts His, my love for establishing my own priorities for my time, money, the use of my gifts.  My affections hold such sway over me, their pull so strong – and immediate – and sometimes urgent – that I can drift far from fixing my affections on God.

Because the things that hold our affections are right HERE, in our face, as it were, putting God before them requires intentionality, a reordering of priorities over other affections, time, money, gifts, in order to give Him first place in our lives.

·       “(Loving) the Lord with all our mind” – means facing up to my stubborn blind spots and willful ignorance.  

Got any stubborn blind spots?  What are they?  In this last year alone, the Lord has brought me face to face with the pride that causes me to think I know the BEST way to do things, over someone else’s not wrong, but different, way.  It leads to a bossiness and arrogance that isn’t pretty. 

He’s opened my eyes to all the ways in which I sin with my mind – in judgment over someone else who is just different in personality.  He’s convicted me of the ways in which I use the intelligence He’s given me to pursue things (books, TV programs, conversations) that tear me and others down.  Walking in stubbornness and willfulness, using my mind in ways that don’t draw me closer to the Lord – all these things force God into a lesser place in my life’s story.

·       “(Loving) the Lord with all our soul” – means that God’s glory radiates into and out of my being.

When I am consistently studying the Bible and talking about it with friends, God’s glory radiates into my being – fanning the flames of love for Him, and hope, joy and praise.  His glory within, can't help but radiate out from me as well – in joy spilling over, in words of praise, in a heart full of expectation of all He has for me in the life to come, as well as in this one, shared with others as we study.  When I neglect God’s word, I slowly but surely forget the joy of knowing Him, and just as slowly but surely, I begin to take center stage in my story again.  The result:  God’s glory radiating into me is hampered, and His glory radiating out from me is as well.

·       “(Loving) the Lord will all our strength” – means not allowing anything trivial or temporal to sap me of strength or focus on loving and trusting Him.

Does worry sap you of strength the way it saps me?  Does fear?  Every time I give in to fear or worry, focusing my mind on my current difficult or fearful circumstances, I stop focusing on the sovereignty of my God, who is in control of ALL things – and those circumstances, with their accompanying fear and worry, become the star of my story.  Loving the Lord with ALL my strength requires a change of focus – from the circumstances to the God who is above them all – and has it all in hand.

People have speculated that one day when we stand before God at the judgment, He will roll the film of the story of our lives for all to see.  The Bible doesn’t say exactly that, but it does say that one day when we stand before God, we will give an account of ourselves to Him.  When the "film" of your life story is rolled, who will be the star?

On that day, I venture that there will be a very few who will be able to stand before the Lord and say they kept Him always at the center of their life’s story.  I KNOW I don't!  But I can’t think of a more worthy goal for living our lives in the here and now than the one the Lord Himself gave us:  

Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your mind, ALL your soul, and ALL your strength.  

In other words God says, make ME the star of your life's story.  If we want to pursue the goal of knowing and loving God with all that is in us, it might require some changes - in our affections, in the way we use our minds, in the way we enrich and feed our souls, in where we look for strength.  It will require intentionality and some life changes. 

We are on the verge of a new year.  Let's challenge ourselves as this new year breaks, to make the changes necessary, in the power of God, to make HIM the center of our life's story.  

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory, because of Your great love and faithfulness.”  Psalm 115, verse 1

MY MOM THE STORYTELLER

It came across my Facebook page, a family photo taken fifteen years ago now, at our daughter Becky’s wedding. 

The setting was the dining room of the lovely Mountaintop Inn in Vermont where Becky was married.  The photo is lit perfectly by the deer antler chandelier positioned over a dinner table.  A dozen or so family and friends, including the bride, are sitting at, or standing behind, the round table laden with the remnants of coffee and wedding cake.  Everyone is smiling, some are on the verge of laughter – all eyes are on one person – my mom.

Mom, seated at the far left of the table, is dressed in a beige pants suit with a satin collar, her gray blond hair cut in a style that perfectly captures her natural waves.  Her face radiates enthusiasm, her hands out in front of her, gesturing madly.  This is one of the ways I will always remember my mom - when she slipped into her role as family storyteller. 

Practically everyone around the table had already heard this particular story.  We all knew what was coming, yet every face is lit with expectation for it!  For once, not a single person said, “Oh Gram, not that one again!”.   No, this time around, we all just let her tell it, and we listened, smiled and just enjoyed it, as if it were the first time she’d told it.  

Her story began on a cruise.  Dinner was over, and Mom was on her way to the next activity when she felt it – the rumblings of what we all affectionally call, “Kaden stomach”.  Mom was not originally a Kaden, but apparently this particular disorder can be passed to non-blood relatives – ask any of us.  Immediately, Mom thought, “I knew I shouldn’t have had that last cup of coffee.” 

Hoping (against hope) that those vague cramps would not amount to anything, she continued on her way.  But, nothing can stop “Kaden stomach”, there IS no cure.  The next time the cramps made themselves known, Mom knew she needed to find a bathroom – preferably an empty one - STAT! 

Rushing into the nearest bathroom, happily noting its emptiness, Mom pushes into the stall, undoes the button of her pants, sits down, and breathes a sigh of relief. 

Less than a minute passes when Mom hears someone enter the room.  The only sound she hears after is a pounding on the counter.  She’s puzzled, but busy, and ignores it.  The pounding begins again.  Now Mom, curious, speaks, “Are you okay?”, she asks.   No speaking, just more pounding.

“Do you need help?”, Mom says.  More pounding.  Well, there’s only one thing to do.  

With the speed of Superman changing out of his Clark Kent suit, Mom stands up, pants still around her ankles, and unlocks the stall door.  Peeking outside, she sees the woman, face turning blue, holding her neck and pounding on the counter.  Instantly coming to the right conclusion, that the woman is choking, Mom waddles out, gives her the Heimlich maneuver, waits till she expels what was choking her and waddles back into the bathroom.  The woman whispers an embarrassed thank you and disappears as fast as she can.

By now, everyone at the table is reeling with laughter, tears flowing, but Mom hasn’t finished.  As she gets to the end of her story, Mom's last line, which sets everyone off again, is the classic, “Imagine what people would have thought was happening if they had walked in on me at the moment I was helping that lady!”.  Imagine. . . .

We lost Mom just a few short years later, but not a one of us has forgotten her stories, or the way she made us all laugh when she told them.  We truly miss her.

ALASKA - THE MAJESTY OF GOD

Jim and I just returned from a trip to Alaska.  I’m still processing the beauty of that wonderful place.  Words like huge, splendid, majestic, serene, quiet and lonely, don’t begin to describe its vast landscape of snow-capped mountains, covered by Sitka spruce trees standing straight and tall, packed close, from the shoreline all the way up the mountainsides.  Nor could they describe Denali National Park – surrounded by mountain ranges, all covered in snow – with low valleys of willow and sparse, skinny black spruce – landscapes that bear, and caribou, moose, and ptarmigan – call home.  It was breathtaking, making us feel so small in comparison.

Then there were the whales – a pod of orcas gliding in and out of the water across the front of our tour boat.  And a humpback soaring as it breached the water, leaving a huge splash in its wake, and harbor seals resting on the shores of a fjord.

And the glaciers!  You know they’re coming when the water alongside your ship begins to dot with ice floes.  Jim and I had been watching them float by our side of the ship, unaware of what was just on the other side.  We decided to go upstairs to grab some lunch when there we saw it - Hubbard Glacier – right there, looming ahead of us, taking us totally by surprise!  We had no idea that it would be so BIG, stretch so far, or be so awe inspiring!  A towering ice floe, more than a mile thick, the height of a twenty five story building.  The only sound that could be heard (apart from the oohs and ahhs of passengers) was loud, booming, cracking noises caused by shifting ice.  Some, who happened to be there at the right time, were treated to what is called “calving”, when a piece of the glacier breaks off and falls into the water.  We were in awe.

Always I’m reminded, in the presence of such majesty, of the One who is the Author of ALL creation. 

Israel’s King David wrote in the Old Testament Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day, (they) utter speech, and night unto night reveal knowledge.  There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

If we have ears to listen, we can hear God speak through what He has made, to reveal Himself - His power, His love for creativity and uniqueness, His desire that we might know HIM.  Even the silence of a spruce forest, the serenity of a fjord untouched by humans, miles and miles of quiet waterways – are designed by Him to draw us closer and cause us to question, “Why am I here?”.

Then the Apostle Paul, speaking of Jesus, in his New Testament letter of Colossians, chapter 1, verses 15, 16a, 17:

He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth. . . All things were created through Him and for Him.

Paul says that Jesus, who is the eternal God the Son, was the agent of all that has been made.

The majesty of what we saw in Alaska is God’s own majesty, revealed in the splendor and glory of all He has made.  

We didn’t get to church to worship with our church family the whole two weeks we were gone – but recognizing God in all He has made – we surely worshipped Him.

JESUS: PROPHET, GREAT TEACHER, OR WHAT?

The things people say when you get into conversations about who Jesus is are really interesting. 

Some say He was a prophet.  I heartily agree.

Jesus certainly had prophetic things to say.   He commented on Old Testament prophecy (He was Jewish after all and knew the OT Scriptures), especially as He saw it applying to Him.  Like at the time when he began his public ministry. 

Luke 4:16-21 "Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.  And he stood up to read.  The scroll of the (Old Testament) prophet Isaiah was handed to him.  Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written (Isaiah 61:1-2):  'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."  Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

With these words Jesus was proclaiming himself to be the Jewish Messiah.  Whew, dangerous claim if it wasn't true!

Jesus also had plenty to say about future prophecy - things that happened during and after the days in which He lived.  In Matthew 26:31-35; 57-75, He prophesied that Peter, one of his closest disciples', would deny him three times before the rooster crowed, the night Jesus was arrested.  And he did, although he had vowed to go to the death with Jesus.  His shame drove him out into the night weeping bitterly.  Peter hadn't believed Jesus, but his prophet's words were fulfilled nevertheless.

And then in Matthew 24:30, Jesus predicted the sign of his return, yet future to us, when he said: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man (a title he often used to refer to himself) will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." 

Yes, Jesus was a prophet.

Others would say that Jesus was a great teacher.  I heartily agree.

Jesus was not only a great teacher, he was an inspired teacher.  Like all good teachers, he began with the practical and went to the theoretical, using ordinary events (like planting seed and catching fish) as teaching tools to reveal spiritual truth.  What made him a great teacher was that he had authority not found in the teachers of His day.  Even as a youth his teaching was notable.

He was only 12 years old, in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover with his family, when he went missing.  His parents had already left for home when his absence was discovered.  After making the return trip to Jerusalem, it was 3 days before they found him in the temple.

Luke 2:46-49 "they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listen to them and asking them questions.  Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.  When his parents saw him, they were astonished.  His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this?  Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.'  "Why were you searching for me?", Jesus asked.  "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

In Matthew 7, after Jesus long discourse, which we call the "Sermon on the Mount", it says in v. 18-19, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as the teachers of the law."

Jesus truly was a GREAT teacher.

Others might say that Jesus is a good man, and once again I have to agree.

Jesus touched the untouchable; leprous outcasts, bringing healing and comfort.  Jesus raised the dead (John 11).  Jesus had compassion on widows, on pleading fathers, on bleeding women, on repentant prostitutes, on a people who were like sheep without a shepherd.  He was a good man - though few ordinary men could do the miraculous things he did.

BUT IS HE GOD?  That is the question.

The best way to answer that is to hear what Jesus says about himself.

John 3:16 Jesus said: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  With these words Jesus declared that God the Father sent him, the Son.

John 3:14-15 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man (a term he used often to refer to himself) must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

John 4:23-26 In a conversation with a woman at a well Jesus said: "A time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth'.  The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'  Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he".  With these words, Jesus declared that he was NOT just a man, he was Israel's long awaited Messiah.

John 5:17-18 "Jesus said, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.'  For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."  There was no confusion for the Jews of Jesus' day about what Jesus was saying about himself.  They clearly interpreted his words as an indication that he was claiming to be God and they wanted to kill him for it, and rightly so, because in their eyes it was blasphemy.  Unless it was true.

John 8:23-24 Jesus said: "I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

John 8:58 "Before Abraham was born, I AM".  The name, "I AM", was the same name by which God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush.  Using this reverent title, Jesus was claiming to BE God!

John 10:30 "I and the Father are ONE."

John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

So, what do we do with these claims of Jesus?  They're pretty outrageous.  Can we believe them and still say he is JUST a prophet, a great teacher, a good man - or could it be that they are true - he IS God, the Messiah, the only One through whom we can know God the Father?

Is he ONE with the Father?  Can he gives us eternal life?  Is he the Jewish Messiah, the great I AM of Exodus 3?  Is he the ONLY way, the ONLY truth and the ONLY source of spiritual life - because no one can come into relationship with the Father EXCEPT through him? 

If not, then these are ridiculous, outlandish claims, and he is a liar, a counterfeit, a deceiver, a fraud, or a schizophrenic - but certainly NOT a prophet, a great teacher, or a good man - and anyone who believed that he was a good "anything" would be a fool. 

So, if you are one of those who believe that Jesus is JUST a prophet, a great teacher, a good man, you just might want to give up being a fool. 

Or, you could consider that what Jesus says about Himself just might be TRUE, begin reading the Bible, especially the New Testament gospel accounts, and let Jesus speak for Himself.

FINISHING WELL

The Bible is full of examples of people who began well, but ended badly. 

I was surprised, when I first studied the history of Israel and its kings, how few were godly in the first place, (only 4 in the southern kingdom of Judah, and none in the northern kingdom of Israel), and how many of these same godly men failed in their faithfulness to God at their life’s end.

There was King David, most renown of the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel, whom God called a man after His own heart.  At the height of his reign as king, David sinned by taking another man’s wife and then orchestrating his death in battle to cover up David’s adultery.  David repented of his sin, but reaped the consequences of it in his own family for years to come.

After the Kingdom of Israel divided, Asa reigned as king over Judah for 41 years.  The Bible says this of him at the start of his reign (2 Chronicles 14):

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.  He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones (symbols of the peoples’ idolatry).  He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers and to obey His laws and commands.

But then, after Asa had been king for thirty-six years, he made a treaty with Ben-Hadad, the idolatrous king of Aram, sweetened with silver and gold items which he took from the treasury of the Lord’s temple.  Hanani, a seer living in Judah at that time, spoke God’s Word to Asa (2 Chronicles 16):

Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand (they were after all, Judah’s enemy).

. . For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.  You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.  Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.  At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

Later, when Asa was stricken with a disease in his feet, the Bible records:

Even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord.

Asa’s son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king of Judah.  During his reign there was always the threat of war with the idolatrous northern kingdom of Israel, so he set to work fortifying the cities of Judah.  2 Chronicles 17 says of him:

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father (ancestor) David had followed.  He sought the God of his Fathers and followed His commands.  His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed (the idols) from Judah.

In the third year of his reign he sent his officials out to teach throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of God; they went around all the towns, teaching the people. 

Then we get to chapter 18 of 2 Chronicles.  Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor by this time, but made a foolish alliance through marriage with the northern kingdom’s most notorious evil king, Ahab.  They went to war together and Jehoshaphat would have lost his life had not the Lord protected him.

When Jehoshaphat returned from battle he was met by Jehu the seer, who denounced him for aligning with Ahab and pronounced these words (2 Chronicles 19:2):

Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?  Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you.

Chapter 19 and 20 of 2 Chronicles stand as a wonderful testimony of Jehoshaphat’s faith in the Lord, but he did not learn from his foolish alliance with Ahab and near the end of his life, made another:

Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness.  Eliezer prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.’  The ships were wrecked and not able to set sail to trade.

When I read these accounts of people who began well and then ended not so well, I have two reactions – sadness and comfort.  Sadness because they began so WELL!  They were committed to the Lord and His ways and led their people in His ways as well.  What happened to them? 

Did they forget that it was the Lord who had been blessing them with His favor and begin to believe their own press, “I’m successful because I’m smart, powerful, strong.  Everyone says so.”?

Did fear replace faith, causing them to make foolish and ungodly alliances?

Were they resting on their laurels so that they weren’t prepared when temptation came calling?

Whatever it was, it’s not surprising the Bible warns us about pride and the necessity to stand fast in faith.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

In Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 11 and 13, the Apostle Paul instructs us about the Armor of God, that which protects us against the wiles of Satan to destroy us:

Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand.

The other reaction I have to the Bible’s record of these men is comfort.  For one thing, I am really not very different from them.  I too have loved the Lord and followed in His ways, and I too have said things, and done things, and THOUGHT things, that were equally foolish and sinful as theirs.  With those things came unpleasant consequences as well as the great grace of God.

Here’s what stands out to me in the accounts of kings Asa and Jehoshaphat:

2 Chronicles 15:17

Although he did not remove the high places (of idolatrous worship) from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.

2 Chronicles 20:31

So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah for 25 years.  He walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

How thankful I am that when the Lord looks at my life, He applies His grace.  Because I belong to Him, God forgives me, and bases His evaluation of me on the sacrifice of His Son by which righteousness has been credited to my account.  Amazing grace! 

So, why this blog at this time?  I’ve been thinking a lot about Billy Graham who died last week after a long and blessed “career” as an evangelist of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

What impressed me most about this wonderful man of God is that he not only began well, he finished well.  Billy Graham was a man saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Like those kings, and like me, he probably had his failings too.  However, when I look at the way he lived these last days, I see his faithfulness – to the call of God upon him when He saved him, and to the call of God upon him when he became an evangelist – and an evangelist he was until God called him home.

I don’t know about you, but that’s how I want to live my life – right up to the end of my earthly life – faithful to the God who saved me by His grace.

I had taken an online Bible class through Dallas Theological Seminary and so began to receive their magazine.  In this month’s issue there was an article about the life and homegoing of Dr. Donald K. Campbell who had served as the seminary’s president.

In the article was the following poem by Robertson McQuilkin called, Let Me Get Home Before Dark.  It made me think of those kings of Judah, and of Billy Graham, and it echoes the thoughts of my heart as I live through these winter years of my life. 

Let Me Get Home Before Dark

It’s sundown, Lord.

The shadows of my life stretch back

into the dimness of the years long spent.

I fear not death, for that grim foe betrays himself at last,

Thrusting me forever into life;

Life with YOU, unsoiled and free.

But I do fear.

I fear the Dark Spectre may come too soon – or do I

mean, too late?

That I should end before I finish or

finish, but not well.

That I should stain Your honor, shame Your name, grieve Your loving heart.

Few, they tell me, finish well. . .

Lord, let me get home before dark.

ANNA - LUKE 2

My daughter Becky originally coined the phrase. . . whenever she needed prayer she’d get in touch and say, “Mom, can you pass this on to the God Squad?”  The members of my God Squad have changed since we’ve moved, but I now have a new God Squad to rely on whenever Becky, or I, need prayer. 

Who are the women who make up your God Squad, the people you call when YOU need prayer?

The subject of today’s blog was her own one-woman God Squad.  Her name was Anna and her story follows on the heels of Simeon’s story in Luke 2.

Luke recorded just three verses about her and truthfully, they don’t contain a lot of information.  Luke 2:36-38:

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.  Coming up to them (Mary, Joseph, Jesus and Simeon), at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

We know from verse 36 that she was a prophetess, an interesting and unusual fact.  We tend to think of a prophet as someone who predicts the future.  God’s prophets certainly did that, but when the Bible uses the word, it has a broader meaning.  Biblically speaking, a prophet is someone who spoke the words of God.  Moses, Isaiah, Micah and many others were considered prophets.  And so was Anna.

What makes Anna unique is that female prophets were rare.  Moses’s sister Miriam was a prophet, as was Deborah in the book of Judges in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament, the four daughters of Phillip the evangelist, were also prophetesses, but males far exceeded females in this important office.

In verse 36 we’re told that Anna was the daughter of Phanuel, who was of the tribe of Asher (one of the twelve tribes descended from Jacob).  Asher was one of the more insignificant of the twelve tribes, settling in the land assigned them by God along the more northern border of Israel.  It had been said that “no prophets can come from Asher”.  Anna proved otherwise.

In addition to being quite old, 84 years of age, we also learn that she had been a widow since the seventh year of marriage.  That would have been hard for any woman, but especially a woman living in Anna’s day.

A woman left widowed in that day had few options.  She could either return to her parents’ home or that of another relative, to wait in hope for another husband.  Or if she had grown children, she could live with them. 

If you have read the Old Testament book of Ruth, then you will remember the widow Naomi, Ruth’s mother in law. 

Naomi had lost not only her husband, but both of her grown and married sons, and was filled with despair over what would happen to her without their support.  When she returned to Israel from Moab, where they had all been living, accompanied by her daughter in law Ruth, she lived in hope that a near relative of hers might offer to care for them, and she found that relative in Boaz. 

Maybe you know a woman who was so devastated after the loss of her husband that she never recovered.  As far as she was concerned, her life was over.  What followed was loneliness, isolation and depression.  Maybe she even blamed God for her husband’s death.  Maybe you even ARE that woman.

Anna apparently did not give in to despair.  Instead of turning inward or turning away from God, Anna turned TO God and He became the focus of her life.  She had experienced great loss and was now old, but the Lord gave her an important ministry.  Anna was what we Christians  call a prayer warrior, someone who will faithfully and powerfully pray to the Lord on behalf of others.

Verse 37 tells us that Anna never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Since there really was no place for Anna to have actually stayed in the temple, commentators say this probably means that whenever the temple doors were open – Anna was there – worshiping and praying – day and night.

Even though Anna was completely focused on the Lord, she wasn’t unaware of what was going on around her, so when Simeon stood holding Jesus, Anna noticed.

Verse 38:  Coming up to them at that very moment

Sounds like a coincidence, right?  Given the nature of this encounter, this was too much of a coincidence to BE a coincidence!  I prefer to call this a Divine Appointment! 

God who had taken such good care of Anna during all the long years of her widowhood, saw to it now that she didn’t miss the most exciting moment of her life!

At this point, I’m left with some questions I might have to wait till heaven to have answered!

·       Did Simeon and Anna know one another? 

·       Did they talk together about the Promise the Lord had given Simeon?

·       While Simeon was holding Jesus did he motion to Anna to come over or did she simply SEE Simeon with the child and put two and two together? 

·       Had she arrived in time to actually hear what he said and that prompted her to rush over?

·       How did the conversation go once Anna joined it?

Whatever prompted her include herself in this scene, we know what she did next, verse 38:

·       She gave thanks to God.

·       And she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

When I read this, I can’t help thinking about that other woman, the woman at the well in chapter 4 of John’s gospel who believed in Jesus, and then went out to the whole town and told everyone else she had met the Messiah!

That’s exactly what Anna did, she told everyone also clinging to the hope of Messiah that He had finally arrived!

I wish God had told us exactly what she said, and then what everyone else said and did who heard and believed her news!  Don’t you?

When it comes to Anna’s life, we don’t have a lot to go on, but there is a lesson we can learn from her:

When the focus of our lives is Jesus – even loss and old age are no barrier to serving God.

Widowhood didn’t signal the end of Anna’s life, nor did the physical limitations of old age.  Rather, when she found herself without a husband, she gave herself over to serving the Lord and others in His temple, and believing in the promises of His Messiah’s coming.

When Anna became a widow, and then got to the ripe old age of eighty four, she didn’t turn inward.  She didn’t think she was no longer of use to anyone, including God. She devoted herself to prayer and worship of the Lord.  And when she finally saw Jesus, her long awaited Messiah, she didn’t keep it the news to herself.

Maybe you, like Anna, have lost a husband, or retired from a job you loved and find yourself at a loss. 

How are you reacting to your loss?  Are you turning inward and isolating yourself?  Throwing a pity party?  Blaming God?  Withdrawing from the things that used to give you pleasure?  

When we turn inward after loss, we deprive ourselves of the comfort God is abundantly willing and able to give us.  And we lose out on the potential of having a meaningful ministry to others who might also be hurting.

Let me encourage you through Anna’s example, if you will focus your life on Jesus, there WILL be life after loss.  That very loss makes you uniquely qualified to comfort others in their loss as the Lord has comforted you.  Who knows better the faithfulness of God during loss than someone who has already experienced it?

There’s a poem called, “Just Think”, by Roy Lessin that hangs on my wall here at home.  Whenever I become discouraged and need reminding about the high calling God has for us as His children, especially as I get older, I read it. 

Just think, you’re here, not by chance, but by God’s choosing

His hand formed you and made you the person you are.

He compares you to no one else – you are one of a kind.

You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you. 

He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

God has a special purpose for your life and my life for this very time in history that He doesn’t want us to miss.  How sad it would be to spend what remains of it in isolation and despair.

The next time you experience loss, or a look in the mirror reminds you that you’re not so young as you used to be – remember Anna, and ask yourself this: 

Am I going to let this keep me from worshipping and serving the Lord for the years of my life that remain, or am I going to see it as an opportunity to renew my devotion to Him – the way Anna did – the way Simeon did - so that I’ll be alert to SEE what God is doing around me?

Then, will I determine to be be part of it?

Do you know what we might discover if we do that? 

We might just discover that our most productive years, in relationship with God, and in spiritual service for God, are still ahead of us! 

What contribution will you make this week to be productive in God’s kingdom – despite personal loss, or the ravages of age?