Since I am usually at the gym about the same time each day, I can count on seeing a familiar sight. There is a woman who makes her way into the gym at the same time I do, and she has done that for quite a long time. I am not sure of her name, so I’ll call her Rhonda.  I have watched her over time. She appears to be in her seventies. Rhonda’s gait is slow. She does not have on the sleek gear of so many who are much younger than she is.

There was a brief period of time when I didn’t see Rhonda, and I didn’t think too much about it. I figured that like so many who attend a gym, over time she just stopped. After a couple of months, I saw Rhonda slowly walk into the gym one day. She had no hair on her head and was very thin. My assumption was that Rhonda was being treated for some kind of cancer.

Rhonda, who was dressed a bit dowdy, slowly walked into the gym, made her way over to a recumbent exercise bike, and began pedaling at a very unhurried pace. As I looked around the gym, Rhonda seemed a bit of an oddity compared to so many other gym folks who were sharply dressed and moving at a challenging pace. Yet, it was Rhonda who caught my eye. Through all her battles and hardships, she still showed up. She still stayed in the battle. Rhonda modeled faithfulness.

There is a wonderful story in scripture about a woman whose life did not turn out as she expected, yet she modeled faithfulness to God. Her story takes place as Simeon is seeing Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. Jesus was the Messiah for which Anna had long prayed for and awaited.

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38)

Anna’s story is given in a few short verses but let us not underestimate her. Hers is a story filled with deep truth.

Anna married and after only seven years of marriage, her husband died. There is nothing recorded about Anna having children. She is most likely in her early twenties, and has already been dealt a couple of huge, life-changing blows. She was childless, which was difficult in Biblical days, and she was a widow. All of Anna’s earthly hopes and dreams turned into nightmares. Gone were the things that would have made her feel at home on earth.

If Anna married at sixteen years old, which would have been about right in that time period, she would have been twenty-three when she became a widow. As we read the verses of her story, we find that Anna is now eighty-four years old. She has been a widow for more than sixty years.

After becoming a widow, Anna dedicated herself wholly to the Lord. I am sure Anna was grieved when she lost her husband and grieved at never having a child to call her own. It would have been so easy to check out of life naturally and spiritually. Anna decided to cling to God. She never left the temple in Jerusalem but spent her time worshiping, fasting, and praying.

Perhaps Anna was given living quarters at the temple because of her designation as prophetess, or she may have lived closeby. What stands out is that her devotion was constant, and her devotion was rewarded when she saw the baby Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him into the temple. Her many years of sacrifice and service were worth it all when she beheld the promised Messiah, the One for whom she had waited so long.

Anna was called a prophetess. The word prophetess comes from the Greek word “profhtij” which means “spokesperson” or “inspired speaker.” A prophet or prophetess spoke what God told them to speak or enlightened them to know, and then shared His word with others. I wonder how many people who were desperate to hear from God, heard from Him through Anna? I wonder how many things changed as a result of Anna’s life of prayer and fasting? How many lives were impacted because Anna dared to be a prayer warrior even when life was unfair?

I’m not quite to age eighty-four, but like Anna, I want it to be said of my life through every season, every hard place, every setback, Barbara Benton spent her days still clinging to Jesus, still worshiping Him, still waiting on the promises of God, still having a word in season and out of season, still glorifying God, still offering hope.  I want an Anna anointing! How about you?