There was also a prophet, Anna, . . . a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. (Luke 2:36–37)
“Wait for the pitch! Wait for your pitch!” Youth baseball and softball coaches yell these words every summer when their players step into the batter’s box. Learning to wait for a good pitch requires patience, and patience often does not come easy. Patience requires discipline, sacrifice, commitment, and staying focused on what is most important.
The few minutes of patience necessary in the batter’s box pales in comparison to the patience in Anna’s life. Anna quietly waited for years. She lost her husband after only seven years of marriage and then spent her time worshiping, fasting, and praying at the temple. She never left. Surely it would have been easy to give up and walk out of the temple, thinking nothing significant was going to happen in her lifetime. Yet, because of her patience year after year, she was present when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple. She witnessed God’s redeeming plan right before her eyes.
Anna’s patience was rooted in staying focused on what is most important: her faith in God. She did not wait with idle hands but instead waited with purpose, patiently worshiping God day after day. When the wait seems too long or the answer too far away, remember the example Anna provided. Ask God to help supply the required discipline, sacrifice, and commitment. The wait is worth it.
Wait patiently, keeping faithful focus on God.
Mike Osler is completing his MDiv at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. Mike and his wife, Kim, live in Iowa with their four young boys.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
