Daily Worship

Anna

Jane Denniston December 11, 2015 0 0

Luke 2: 21 - 24

Luke 2: 21 – 24, 36 - 38

21 After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), 24and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’

36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The hope of Anna shames me.
Her life was hard.
She suffered
She lost
She was forsaken
Yet she trusted
Did she give up on hope?
Did she lose faith?
Rather she worshipped
She was faithful in prayer 
And in self-denial
Through all the long years
Until the fulfilment of her purpose
Unlooked for
When all hope could have died
At the very last
And faith was answered.