How Anna's Story Inspires Us to Serve and Believe
Dec 17, 2024Voices of the Nativity, part 10
Summary
Join Tamara K. Anderson and Jen Brewer as they explore the inspiring story of Anna, the prophetess from Luke 2:36-39, who serves as a remarkable witness to the baby Jesus. With a life marked by loss and devotion, Anna dedicated 84 years as a widow, spending her days in the temple praying and fasting, ready for the moment when she would encounter the Messiah. This episode delves into how Anna’s unwavering faith and commitment to God positioned her to recognize and proclaim Jesus at such a pivotal time.
Jen and Tamara highlight the importance of waiting and preparation in our own lives, emphasizing that even in periods of waiting, God is at work. With a blend of humor and heartfelt insights, they remind us that every woman, regardless of age or circumstance, has a vital role in witnessing and sharing the message of Christ--especially as we prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Show Notes
Anna’s life as a widowed prophetess in the New Testament serves as a focal point for an inspiring discussion on faith, perseverance, and the unexpected twists in our spiritual journeys. Jen and Tamara delve into her story, illustrating how Anna dedicated 84 years to serving God in the temple. This episode not only recounts Anna's experiences but also reflects on the broader themes of grief, hope, and the power of unwavering devotion. Through the lens of humor and heartfelt narratives, the conversation highlights the lessons we can glean from Anna’s life, especially during our own seasons of waiting and uncertainty.
Listeners are encouraged to examine their personal struggles and how, like Anna, they can transform grief into a deeper relationship with God. The hosts emphasize that waiting is not a passive state but an active engagement in faith, advocating for a proactive approach to spiritual growth. They draw parallels between Anna's anticipation of Christ and our own readiness to embrace moments of divine intervention in our lives. This episode invites listeners to find comfort in the knowledge that they are never alone in their trials and that every individual has a role to play in the divine tapestry of life.
As the discussion unfolds, it challenges societal perceptions of women in scripture, celebrating Anna's role as a prophetess and recognizing the importance of female voices in the gospel narrative. The episode concludes by encouraging a reflection on how we can embody Anna’s faith and resilience, ultimately inviting listeners to be prepared for their own divine moments. This engaging dialogue serves as a reminder that no matter our age or circumstances, we are all capable of being witnesses to the transformative power of faith.
Takeaways
- Anna's life exemplifies how faith can sustain us through long periods of waiting and grief.
- The story of Anna reminds us that our life's purpose can unfold at any age.
- God uniquely calls women to witness and share their faith in powerful ways.
- Serving God with dedication, like Anna, can lead to profound opportunities for testimony.
- Anna's unwavering commitment to prayer and fasting illustrates the importance of spiritual discipline.
- Even in the face of life's disappointments, we can find purpose and redemption.
- Reminder that as we approach the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we too can witness Him, like Anna.
Podcast Hosts & Guests
Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson
Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/
Jen Brewer @jenbrewerauthor, @jen.brewer7
Jen Brewer is a member of our Women Warriors of Light advisory board. She is a nourisher of bodies and souls. She does this through speaking, writing, and global malnutrition work. She is the mother of 7 children, author of 6 books, and lover of traveling to discover yummy food and Jesus Christ (not necessarily in that order). You can find her at: https://www.jenbrewer.com/
Key words
Anna in the Bible, witness of Jesus, Luke 2:36-39, Bible women, prophetess Anna, faith and grief, inspiring women in scripture, women's roles in the Bible, redemption in Jerusalem, Anna the prophetess, New Testament women, lessons from Anna, Jesus' birth witnesses, biblical widow, fasting and prayer, life challenges in faith, women warriors of light, spiritual strength, testimonies of Jesus, biblical stories of hope
Transcript
If you’d like to read the transcript of today’s episode, you can find it on our Women Warriors of Light website blog. Link in the bio.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:00:00.720 - 00:00:31.555
When life doesn't turn out how you hoped, what do you do? Today we get to read about an amazing woman from the New Testament who had been a widow for 84 years. Oh my gosh, you guys.
And we're going to talk a little bit about some of the things she must have learned along the way that we can learn and kind of apply to our lives. For one, our lives don't turn out how we thought. So stay tuned.
Podcast Host
00:00:33.575 - 00:01:09.995
Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.
Join us Tuesday morning as the gals from Women warriors of Light and their guests don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount, we explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments.
Tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:01:15.135 - 00:01:28.317
Hello and welcome to another episode of Bible Women in Bathrobes. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson, and joining me today is one of my amazing board members from Women warriors of Light, Jen Brewer.
Jen, thanks for being here today.
Jen Brewer
00:01:28.421 - 00:01:31.385
Oh, it's so great to be here. As always, Tamara, thank you.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:01:32.045 - 00:02:01.019
And today we are continuing with our Voices of the Nativity series here talking and last week we got to talk about Simeon at the temple and then today we get to talk about the female witness of Christ who is Anna. And Jen, you told me you named your daughter after her, so I'm going to let you just kind of tell me why.
Because, because she is such a key person here in this story of the witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Jen Brewer
00:02:01.187 - 00:04:06.465
Yes, I, yeah, we, our last daughter, Anna, she, this is her namesake and we, we chose all of our names from, from scripture and just wanted our kids to have this heritage. And Anna was one who has, wow. Like, she has always struck me as just a pillar. She, she has what, like just a handful of verses dedicated to her.
That's all we know about her.
And yet in those handful of verses we, we hear like misery and heartache and turning your life over to the Lord and then being able to be one of these amazing witnesses of God.
And not only that, not to go down rabbit holes, but a prophetess that, you know, we shy away from that a lot of times in our Christian thinking of the female and the prophetess. But I mean, it's very plain here she is here.
And correct me if I'm wrong, any listeners, I maybe have not done as in depth as I should, but My, my studies have led to. She was like the first kind of church leader prophetess to publicly declare Christ.
Because when it talks about Simeon, he is described as a man, you know, he's a man who comes to the temple and he like, personally, he had wanted to have a witness. So God granted him personally that witness. And we get to read that. It says Anna here, she was a prophetess and she declared.
She was one of the first declarations, which, yeah, we can talk about that. To the female. Female Christ relationship with every, every dispensation has been kind of witnessed or ushered in by a female, which is crazy.
But I just, I love her story.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:04:07.445 - 00:04:54.119
So, so good. Right? And, and you're right, there's only a handful of women in the Bible that are called the prophetess.
I think Isaiah's wife is called the prophetess and so wife of a prophet. But so we don't know anything about her husband. She was only married 7 years, bless her soul. Oh, my goodness.
So life did not turn out for her as she thought. But then there's a few other women who were prophetess were given the designation as prophetess.
And so, you know, there's Deborah in the Old Testament, Miriam. And we did talk about Miriam a couple of months ago.
Jen Brewer
00:04:54.207 - 00:04:58.607
There was one that I just, I was looking this up just yesterday. There was one that I had never heard of.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:04:58.671 - 00:05:02.765
Oh, Philip's four daughters, it says in Acts 21.
Jen Brewer
00:05:02.805 - 00:05:04.465
And there's one Hulda.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:05:04.925 - 00:05:06.349
Ah, we'll have to cover her.
Jen Brewer
00:05:06.397 - 00:05:10.285
The prophetess. I was like, what?
Tamara K. Anderson
00:05:10.365 - 00:06:54.165
Anyway, like Jen said, there is not. There aren't very many verses on Anna. And yet she was an amazing witness of Jesus Christ.
And so let's just kind of dive into these. And there are so many words in these verses. Like I took and I underlined them again. We like with a different color pencil.
I'm like, oh my gosh, so many of these words are just beautiful and how they can apply to us. So we're in Luke chapter two, and we're going to go through verses 36 through 38 are the story of Anna.
And then there's one transition verse in 39 of Mary and Joseph. Just kind of a little thing to transition to the next thing.
So it says in verse 36, and there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Faneuel of the tribe of Asser. She was of a great age and had lived with and husband seven years from her virginity. So she was only married for seven years before her husband died.
I'm translating this into modern vernacular. Here. And then in verse 37, it says, and she was a widow of about four score and four years. 84 years. I'm translating that too. Oh my gosh.
So I mean, if she got married young, she's. She's in her hundreds now, probably, you know, maybe 100. 100 and 100. I don't know how old she was when she got married, but she's. She's old.
So a four score and four years which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And I'm just going to pause there because there's a lot in the next verse that we can unpack as well. But oh my goodness. Thoughts so far on Anna?
Jen Brewer
00:06:55.585 - 00:07:55.497
- Well, it's fascinating. That said, she departed not from the temple. Oof. That's dedication to just. And serve God with fasting and prayer night and day.
Like, yeah, if you're young, you're married seven years, and suddenly you find yourself a widow. And that time and place, it was. You were not, you were not in good standing. You were.
You know, we've got the story of Ruth, you know, her mother in law, who lost everything and just. They became beggars. They went back and just became beggars.
So the fact that she could become a widow, most likely at a very young age, and then transition from that to a priestess, a prophetess at the temple. Yeah, like I want to know that story.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:07:55.681 - 00:07:56.201
Yeah.
Jen Brewer
00:07:56.273 - 00:08:00.965
That. I want that little editing piece put back in.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:08:01.385 - 00:10:38.275
Yeah, Amen to that. I would love to hear the in between. But what I.
What we can glean from this so far is she was someone whose life didn't turn out how they thought and went through probably an extreme period of grief and poverty. And yet she went through it, maintained faith. And I think that is the biggest thing I can glean from her.
Now, that doesn't mean that she wasn't ever sad or angry at God or any of that. I think those are all human emotions. Right.
But I think the fact that she has come from that and you can see where life has brought her, we're looking at the very end of her life, at what God has made from her through her experiences. That she is someone who hangs out in a holy place and she is there all the time. If you want somebody to pray for you, go to Anna. She'll pray for you.
Do you know what I mean? A prophetess means she's prophesying, Right? Prophesying probably of Jesus Christ. We'll learn later in this next verse that she Was.
She was an incredible missionary and a testifier, such an incredible witness of Jesus Christ. So she has come through the fire of affliction with faith. And you can. You can glean some things that she did with fastings and prayers.
And I found that when I have those things that need to be healed in my soul, that when I walk through them with Jesus, that he heals me and he can heal me wholly and completely from those things. And these are some of the clues. Serving God, being in holy places, not departing from God, fasting and praying. I mean, those are great clues.
If you are in a hard spot, just kind of take from that verse 37 right there. You could just glean a few things that you can do to help bring yourself back to peace. Because he helps us work through the anger.
He helps us work through the grief. And it's such an incredible process to go through with God. Thoughts on that, Jen?
Jen Brewer
00:10:38.355 - 00:11:26.957
Yeah, one. One thing that hit me. All. All of those wrapped up together and then just. I feel like the timing here is very important that they. That they kept in.
She had been a widow 84 years. That's a. That's a lot of years of waiting. And there was recently a podcast that was shared around in a group. I think you saw it too.
Maybe you can help me. I can't remember his name. Who gave a talk. He gave. I'll look for the name and give it.
But he talked about, like, perfect families, this, this kind of misconception. And he talked about some different, like, steps in podcasts. And I'm gonna muff it because I rarely remember things. Just listen.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:11:26.981 - 00:11:28.773
It's all good. Do your best.
Jen Brewer
00:11:28.869 - 00:13:17.745
This one jumped out at me. It was waiting is work or the work of waiting. And I. I'm personally in a very hard, harsh waiting period in life.
And that hit me so hard of, oh, that's actually a thing. It's not just the sit and twiddle your thumbs, like, wait. Waiting is the work. Like, you are doing that and 80 years of her coming and that.
So I just looked up on my bulletin board, I want to pull this. This thought that I have up here from Winston Churchill.
And it says "To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."
And that hit me when the very first line of the next Verse. And she coming in that instant, like, boom, here's your tap.
80 years, 80 plus years that you've been doing these rituals, you've been doing this preparing. And your tap is here. Here's your moment. Like, she not young, you know, I wonder how many nights she thought, what am I doing? What, what's the point?
What's the purpose? I just, nothing's happening. And her moment came when she was a hundred plus years old.
Most likely, you know, a lot of us think I'm too old life, you know, too much has happened, too much has gone by, it's not going to happen.
And yet in that I love, and I love the verbiage in that instant, she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:13:18.765 - 00:14:28.595
Like, right, she was there in the moment. I would call this the pinnacle of her life, right?
That she followed God and she was there at the right time, in the right place, you know, God, because she was so close to him.
She was there and she got to testify of Jesus Christ and not just test to all, to all spake of him, to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And it's interesting that she.
That the word for all, to all that looked for redemption, you know, she knew that there were certain people who had been looking for Jesus and then she could go and testify to them. I saw him, perhaps I held him. Obviously it's. It's in here. So Mary must have told Luke. I remember, I remember Anna, you know.
Jen Brewer
00:14:29.695 - 00:16:02.621
You know, and the fact that they brought her out, I was listening to another, another podcast, and they were talking about Mary being the first witness of the resurrected Christ and how peculiar that was that they put her in there and they were talking about, some people say the Bible isn't valid and yada, yada. And he said, if you were trying to just make up these stories, you would not put a woman as the first witness, because in their law, women were not.
They were not seen quite literally in a law sense. They could not be witnesses in a court of law. Their word meant nothing in a very literal sense.
So the fact that they included Mary as the first witness, his argument was the fact that they included. That meant.
Well, that really happened because they wouldn't have included that if they were trying to show the validity of the resurrected Christ because that testimony would mean nothing.
And to me, that speaks also to Anna that they would have a woman prophetess be the one to be proclaiming this, because in their law her word would mean nothing, but she was designated as a prophetess, which means something. So it's just fascinating, like this culture and this mix. Yeah.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:16:02.653 - 00:17:28.285
And I also think of our role as nurturers. And so I can see her being the one who notices the beggar at the temple.
I can see her being the one who notices someone like Hannah coming to the doors of the temple, weeping because she has no children, and being the one to lift them up. I mean, it says she served. That was one of the things she did, is she served. And she was a prophetess. And.
And so she used these gifts that God had given her to bring others to Jesus, you know, whether he had already been born or not.
It was pointing them to the Messiah, to their salvation, and how beautiful that God would take the gentler sex, you know, and just say, and you too, get to witness. I love that there that we have both male and female witnesses of Jesus Christ here, surrounding the birth of Christ.
You know, it is so such a testimony to me that even then, God knew his daughters intimately and gave them important roles. Even. Even if society didn't follow that God has always loved his daughters, you know?
Jen Brewer
00:17:28.865 - 00:17:31.417
Yeah. Can I take that a step further?
Tamara K. Anderson
00:17:31.561 - 00:17:32.805
Yeah, go ahead.
Jen Brewer
00:17:33.705 - 00:17:43.005
I've done kind of a deep dive into this again, if I can find. I. I do really random things.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:17:44.865 - 00:17:49.725
And I love you for it. You always come on the podcast, and it's always fun to see where we go.
Jen Brewer
00:17:50.785 - 00:21:09.795
And I started to, like, get drawn to these accounts, like Anna and Mary, and I started to think, oh, is there a pattern here? Like how you said God has a special place for the women.
And from the inception of time, man's view of women has been very much, you know, starting from the evil Eve, you know, who led all humankind astray and kind of went downhill from there.
But if you pull back and look at God's view of women, not only is it just a pat on the head, I started to realize, oh, wait a minute, there's a pattern here, even that God utilizes the female to usher in every epoch of Christ. So, and I started to go back through. You've got Eve, who ushered in humankind. We all give Adam credit for that.
No, it was Eve who decided, dudes, we gotta go, we gotta eat, we gotta replenish the earth. Let's do this. Mary, the mother of Christ, she ushered in Elizabeth, who ushered in John the Baptist, who is the precursor of Christ.
You've got the angels, who I'm sure, yes, there were male angels. Yes, there were female angels. I'M of the belief even that the angel who. Who comforted Christ was most likely a female.
In fact, this picture right behind me is like, a female. It's the comforting angel when Christ was on in Gethsemane, and this one depicted her as a female.
And I thought I saw that, and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I'm like, of course, it's not said anywhere. That's. So I don't have any documentation. That was my own belief.
You got the woman at the well was his very first public announcement that he was the Christ. I'm like, oh, wow. You know, you've got Anna, who again, I circling back to bring it back here, who ushered in his public.
She, like, gave the public announcement from a temple standpoint. But I just think, ooh, is there something more that women in particular need to do, especially as the earth prepares for the second coming?
Because I know you feel it. I know we all feel this. When I talk to so many women who are like, oh, there's a rumble, there's a rumble. I got to get ready.
And we don't really know what for, but it's. Oof. I feel like God is calling us to attention. Come on, ladies, get ready.
There's a connection here to Anna that we need to see, maybe even on a deeper level of. She announced the birth of Christ. Are we needing to get ready to be on the front lines to herald in Christ's return? Like, what do we need to do? What.
How can we prepare?
What when we get tapped on the shoulder, like, how can we be like Anna, be in the right place at the right time, doing the right things, like you said, even when our life isn't how we expect it to go. Yeah.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:21:12.255 - 00:22:49.415
Those are some really, really good points and some good things for us to ponder, because as life gets busier and harder and. And the adversary is throwing everything at us, you know, here he knows his time is short. He knows Jesus is coming soon.
That we can perhaps find ourselves in holy places so that we know what we can do to prepare, that we'll find ourselves listening serving God, that we can find ourselves serving God, that we can fast. That we can pray to maybe find the answer. What is our role as. As we prepare for the second Coming, what is our role?
And then, like you said, in that instant, be that. That, like Winston Churchill said, let's be there.
Let's fill our role, be in the right place at the right time, give thanks to the Lord and then speak of him to all. And I think this podcast Is part of that, that we get to speak of him, that it gets to go worldwide and we get to bear our witness of him.
Don't give up. Oh, my goodness. I think Anna is a fantastic role model for that. Don't give up. I mean, don't give up.
Doesn't matter how old you are, you have an important role. No matter how young you are, you have an important role. Don't give up. God is with you. Hang in there, right? Ooh.
So, so good takeaways from this episode, my friend.
Jen Brewer
00:22:49.795 - 00:24:09.415
Just one, one thing that you just brought up. You're not old enough. You're not too old, you're not too young. It's beautiful that we have these two bookends.
We've got Mary, who felt like she was way too young, and we've got Anna, who perhaps felt like she was way too old. Both of them coming together in this beautiful union of one presenting her child to the other, and both of them being able to be in that moment.
And then again, we don't get told, like, we just get told she served in the temple. She knew it was her ritual. Did she get like, did she know she would. Was she on the lookout for Christ to come?
Like, Simeon, we're told that specifically he prayed for this. He wanted to be able to witness. It doesn't tell us, Anna. Did she, like, was she looking for it? Was she. Did she know it would come?
Was there a day that she was told, oh, get there five minutes early because something's gonna, like, we don't know. All we get told was she was going about her duties and boom, there it was, her, her instant, her moment. She got tapped, like me.
The take home is, like you said, like, go about doing our duties, doing good, maybe feeling like we're not doing anything but be ready, boom, for the tap, for the instant.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:24:09.795 - 00:25:55.715
Well, and don't you think that God uses his daughters because they are so busy doing so many things that. And as we are so busy serving other people that in serving others, we are serving God, we are serving his children.
And so by doing those things that we're like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to be so distracted by that, all that I'm doing. But maybe it's in the doing that we are his hands.
And because we are his hands, he blesses all things to work together for our good, and we will be in the right place at the right time, you know, So I really feel like, like, that is our role as women, to be the hands, to be the serving hands here. And while we're serving, the opportunities will arise. So good, good takeaways here. This is beautiful.
All right, ladies, if you feel you are too busy, you are not alone. If you feel like your life is not what you hoped it would be, it's okay. You're not alone.
But I think the miracle of all this is that whether you're young or old, busy or you're kind of past your prime, that we can each be witnesses of the Savior in our lives. We can witness what he has done for us, and we can look forward to his second coming with joy.
We know it's coming, and we can be like Anna and testify to all people around us that he is he's coming. Thanks for joining us today and have a blessed day.
Podcast Host
00:25:56.815 - 00:26:37.275
Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women and Bathrobes, hosted by Women warriors of Light. We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior Today with you.
If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word and don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood. Just a friendly reminder, all opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings just like you are.
Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.
