Mundane Moments: Anna

The thing about new years and new starts is that they end so quickly. There is always a flurry of excitement around 11:58 pm on New Years’ Eve. Champagne. Sparklers. Kisses. Cake (if your friends bake—thankfully, mine do!).

And then it’s done.

All the new will quickly fade. By January 15, the new journal has a frayed corner from the way it got folded in your bag. The new lipstick is smashed ever-so-gently into the lid. The new plan has suffered a slight setback. The new book has a water ring on its cover from where you set down that cup of iced coffee. Nothing is broken yet, but there are signs of wear.

It’s a bit of a relief. It releases some of the pressure.

We can stop worrying about ruining it. We can remember to live it. To enjoy the million little moments that make up a day. To live even these moments we’ll soon forget. To let them be mundane and to let that be okay.

It makes me think about a woman named Anna.

Anna was an eighty-four-year-old widow whose life revolved around the House of the Lord. Luke called her “a prophetess” (Luke 2:36). Whether she lived within the Temple grounds or centered her life around that holy place, the Word of God tells us that “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). And she lived that way for most of her life.

But one day, in the middle of her many days, her life intersected with the Man of Christ, or more accurately—with the Infant Christ.

She was going about her day, cultivating faithfulness as she had for a whole lot of years. She was doing the things she knew to do. She was doing what was in front of her, even when others didn’t. Even when it wasn’t fancy. Even when it wasn’t seen. Perhaps even when it was a little bit boring.

“And coming up at that very hour…” (Luke 2:38)

At what very hour? At the very hour a young couple carried their Newborn into the temple. At the very moment that Mary and Joseph brought the Son of God into the House of God.

Take a moment and let that settle in. It’s a big deal.

The King had come. The glory of God was wrapped in flesh, and his parents laid in the arms of a man named Simeon, who proclaimed Him to be the Savior:

“My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32).

At that very hour, Anna walked up. It was the holiest of hours. How many hours had she walked the same path? How many hours had she knelt in the same place? How many hours had she trusted what she could not see? How many hours were made up of moments that blended into the next? How many hours did she spend cultivating a life of faithfulness that few would ever see?

And then that hour.

Anna recognized, in the Infant’s wrinkled forehead, the very Face of God. Perhaps she looked into the squinting eyes of the One for whom she’d waited, of the One whom she had worshiped and served. Maybe she kissed the top of His head and whispered love and thanks and praise.

That hour. And then it passed. It’s likely that the next day looked a lot like the one before. But Anna had seen Jesus. Her days might have been the same afterward, but she would never be.

Long years of faithful moments had tendered Anna’s heart to recognize the faithful face of her God.

Might this year and all of its moments leave us tender toward Him too?

As we go from the laundry room to the kitchen for the fourteenth time. As we make the thousandth copy. As we smear the peanut butter and jelly on his sandwich. As we read. As we send the email or the text or the letter. As we let the dog out. As we drive to the place where we are needed or to the place where we want to be. As we do whatever it is we do on the most mundane days.

Might we recognize Him when we see Him?

Might we trust Him even when we don’t?

Might we seek and find Him faithful?

Respond:

Ask the Lord to make you more aware of His presence as you seek Him through this study. Ask Him to make you quicker to recognize and to respond to Him. Carry a piece of paper or a journal throughout this week and write down moments when you see the Lord, however small or mundane they may seem.

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These devotionals are a sample from Cody’s upcoming book Jesus Beside Her. If you would like to receive more information when the book is released, please sign up to hear from her.