A New Year Of Waiting

God does some of His best work of holiness in times of brokenness.

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

- Luke 2:36-38

I would regularly go on mission trips, several times a year, to countries like Jordan, Egypt, Thailand, Japan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

My parents, whenever I went, would commit to fast for the team and me. I didn’t ask them to do this, but they believed God wanted them to. Now, they were in the restaurant business, often working 10-12 hours a day, so all they could do was fast for one meal at a time. And they shared how difficult it was, as they are in their 70s. I am so humbled and challenged by what God was doing in their lives through their fasting and praying.

In this passage, Anna was eighty-four years old. Yet she fasted and continuously prayed. Furthermore, she went through the pain of losing her husband and lived as a widow, yet gave thanks to God.

What was Anna’s secret?

Verse 37 says she did not depart from the temple and worshiped with fasting and prayer night and day. In the temple, as God’s word went into her mind, heart, and soul, worship came out through fasting and prayer. Fasting and prayer were a means of God’s grace for her to wait for Jesus.

The point isn’t how many days you can fast or how long you can pray, but are you relying and depending on God and His strength to wait.

There is a considerable difference between waiting with God’s grace and waiting without.

When we wait without His help, we may grow bitter, cynical, and can become disillusioned.

But as we go into the New Year and wait with God’s grace of His Word, prayer, and fasting, like Anna, we can, as verse 38 says, give thanks to God and speak of Him to all who are waiting!

Friends, we are all waiting for something, aren’t we? Waiting for covid to end. Waiting to put 2021 behind us. Waiting for new beginnings. Waiting for greater opportunities in the New Year.  And, as believers, we are ultimately waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, where all our brokenness, sadness, messiness, and illness will all disappear.

But I want to encourage us on this last day of 2021 that God does some of His best redemption work of holiness in times of brokenness.

Holiness is born in messiness.

This is why I am filled with so much excitement and anticipation for 2022, as you and I grow together in godliness as we daily receive God’s Word, and it leads us to worship and prayer! I am so thankful that we have each other to become more like Christ in this new year.

So, God bless you, and happy New Year!

Pastor Sean

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