Anna Expected the Bridegroom!

The year was 1987. I was ready and waiting in my white gown, hair sprayed down in perfection, veil in place. Dad was standing ready to walk me down the aisle. And then…the power went off! My groom, who was expectantly looking down the aisle, now wouldn’t even be able to see his bride!

Every wedding has at least one hitch and this was mine. Thankfully, the power came back on in about 30 seconds. But oh, what a LONG 30 seconds it was as we were LOOKING for each other down the aisle.

Anna had lost her groom after only 7 years of marriage. We have been examining what Luke 2:36-38 tells us about the prophetess using the word SEEK to guide us. The second “E” is for she expected the bridegroom!

³⁶ And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day withfastings and prayers. ³⁸ At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Anna and others in Jerusalem were looking for the redeemer. My head immediately goes to the Old Testament story of Ruth when I think about “looking for a redeemer“.

In biblical times, the next of kin would have the responsibility of claiming a widow as his own. For example, when Ruth became a widow, Boaz claimed her as his wife. The kinsman redeemer was the nearest relative who was willing and able to take of the widow (for more info on kinsman redeemer, click here).

So that made me ask a few questions…Where was Anna’s kinsmen redeemer? Was there no one, or no one willing, to claim her? Or did she just decide that she was going to serve God with her whole life while she looked for THE ultimate kinsman redeemer– Jesus?

Whether or not Anna chose to spend the rest of her life as a widow or she just didn’t have a kinsman redeemer is not really important. What’s important is she looked beyond her current circumstance and expectantly lookedfor Jesus.

Wonder what might happen in our lives if we took our eyes off our circumstances & expectantly looked for Jesus? <Click to tweet!

If we can’t see beyond what is right in front of us, we get stuck. When we get stuck, a downward spiral of sorrow and pity kick in and then we start believing the lies of Satan. One of his most powerful lies goes a little like this:  “Your life will never be any better than it is right now – so just get used to it.” That is a fixed mindset, not a growth mindset!

So don’t get so comfortable in your pit that you start decorating it and making it your home! Anna got beyond her pit of sorrow and focused her energy into LOOKING for her true kinsman redeemer – Jesus Christ.

While she was looking for CHRISTmas, she was praying, serving, and fasting. How long did she look? Some scholars translate this passage as she was widowed after 7 years of marriage and then stayed in the temple for 84 more years.

84 years of looking for her bride groom! And I thought 30 seconds of power outage at my wedding was horrible 🙂

We are in a similar situation to Anna’s of old. We are in a waiting time…waiting for Christ to come and claim final victory. We can learn from Anna and be actively serving when Christ returns. The scripture says that “at that very moment” Anna began thanking God for her long looked-for redeemer. Anna didn’t miss her moment and neither will we. We can serve while we expectantly look for Him.

Here are links to the rest of this series:  Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3.