Ordinary People: Lessons From Little Known Bible CharactersSample

Anna: faithfulness even in suffering

Most of us don’t stop at the end of a film to watch the credits. We know who the main actors are and usually are not too concerned about the supporting characters. Christmas is a bit like that. On a card you might see Mary and Joseph, and the baby, and perhaps the wise men or the shepherds. But I have never seen Anna. At least Simeon, who appears at the same moment in the story of Jesus’ presentation in the temple as a baby, is remembered through his words of praise, appearing in many liturgies such as the Nunc Dimittis. Anna’s story is just three verses but I think it is incredible.

Anna knew suffering. In an era when to be married meant security and provision, she had been widowed as a young woman decades before this. Yet somewhere along that difficult journey she had made a decision. She was not going to become bitter, but keep worshipping God. Something in those years of faithfulness had honed her spiritual vision, so that when she saw this ordinary couple and their small baby, she knew God was doing something really special.

Suffering changes us in different ways. Anna’s personal tragedy had driven her to God rather than away from Him. She had drawn close to Him in the difficult years and trusted that He was with her. That closeness to God led to her receiving the incredible privilege of seeing God’s gift to all of us in Jesus, and of being able to share the wonderful news with everyone she encountered. We follow a suffering Lord who is with us in every experience of our lives: it is a huge challenge to allow those dark times to draw us closer to Him, but, as for Anna, there can be ‘treasures in the darkness’. (Isaiah 45:3)

Reflect: Think back on some of the difficult moments of your life. Are there ways in which God has drawn alongside you and shown you new things? Is there anyone God might be encouraging you to draw alongside in their suffering?

Prayer: Suffering God, I thank You that through the cross You have bought us new life, and that there is nothing that we go through that You do not understand. Help me in the tough times to turn to You, and to support others when they have difficult times. Amen