Staying Faithful In The Waiting
By Anna Anderson
I was recently struck by Anna’s encounter with the Lord during His Presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:36-38). She waited so long for the Lord to fulfill His promise to her. She spent years praying and preparing. And then, the Lord came to her as a tiny baby, bringing His love into her life in an entirely new way.
I admire this faithful waiting. After spending much time reflecting on this, I finally realized why. I am experiencing that waiting on the Lord. Waiting is not sitting around until He decides it’s time for His full plan to be revealed in your life; waiting is spending much time growing in relationship with Him in the present moment, even if the full life plan He has for you is not yet clear. It’s all about slowly letting Him reveal His Heart to you, His love for you abundant, so when it finally is time, you understand just how much He cares. Other Anna did that by staying in the Temple, praying and spending her own time with the Lord for all of those years.
I have been in this boat especially recently, as the Lord’s recent promises for my life are probably not going to be completely fulfilled for a few years at least. Yes, He is slowly sharing bits and pieces of it as we grow in that deeper relationship, but there’s something about faithfully waiting and loving Him in the present that is captivating and extremely important.
When Anna looked at Jesus, she immediately experienced a love better than anyone ever had or ever would share with her. It doesn’t share much with us about her life before the years spent in the Temple except that she was married for 7 years until her husband died, and waited on the Lord for many years after that. While it doesn’t say whether or not she had children, let’s assume she didn’t for a minute. With all of the time she spent praying in the Temple, she became a motherly figure to the people there joining her in prayer. As a woman, she “exhibit[ed] a kind of affective, cultural and spiritual motherhood which has inestimable value for the development of individuals and the future of society,” (Letter to Women, 9).
This gift of spiritual motherhood was not wasted, He used it in that time for all of the people she prayed for and with. It’s not wasted in you either. Whether His plan for you is to have physical children or not, as a woman in relationship with Him, you will have that spiritual motherhood, so do not be afraid of what He asks. After He comes to Anna, here she is, holding this child when she probably didn’t have any of her own, and knowing that God fulfilled His promise to her after all of those years of faithful waiting by just staring into His eyes. She knew in that moment that God truly cared about her, individually, and that He was also faithful in the waiting.
He’s faithful in your waiting too. Whatever His promise to you is, there is a purpose for this present time; don’t waste it. Make it faithful, holy waiting by growing in relationship with Him. Learn to trust Him more so you are ready for that future He has planned. Work on saying yes to the small things He asks of you so it is easier to trust Him, and say yes, to the bigger things. Keep your hopes set on Him, even when life becomes difficult, for “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us,” (Romans 6:5).
