Pearls from the Bible 39

Waiting is one of the things that everyone has faced in our lives, especially in India, a densely populated nation. It is very common. The Bible, from the beginning, talked about God's promise to send a redeemer to save people from sin, which consequence is death. Many laid to rest without seeing the promised Messiah. But the Bible talks about very special people who recognized their redeemer when he was born. One such person was a widow who chose to stay and pray in the temple of God after she lost her husband.Many people were there in Israel, Jerusalem, and in the temple of God, but God chose to reveal himself to this wonderful woman of God. The Bible says in Luke 2:37, 'She never left the temple; day and night she worshiped God, fasting and praying.' When she saw the child, she was filled with praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 68:5 says, 'Father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.' So while Anna was in God's holy place, He was always watching over her as her defender.

One of the easy targets in our present society is the widows. People believe that there is no protection over them as they are living without their husbands and easily hurt their emotions. But God is watching over them as he was watching over Anna as her defender and even chose to reveal His son to this woman. He honored her; the Bible doesn't record any young married women or any women from a royal family seeing the child. It was Anna who was special to God.

Dear God, help us to see the widows in our society as you see them. Before we look at them, may we see you standing with them as their defenders. May we always consider them as special, just as you consider them. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.