December 30, 2024 // The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 2:36-40

Reflect on the Word // 

I plopped down next to my husband with resolve. I was determined not to allow myself to cry over this . . . again. But as the words found their way to my lips, the tears found their way to my eyes. 

“It was negative,” I said to him as I felt the hope escape on my breath. 

In that moment, I felt silly. Silly for allowing myself to dream of adding to our family. Silly for believing that it could happen after so many years of infertility. But perhaps the most intense emotion I felt that day was anger. 

I suppose that’s why my husband’s advice fell on deaf ears. “Bring it to God,” he said. And I frowned at the thought. 

Nearly a decade of negative pregnancy tests had passed, and I started to believe that God wasn’t with us in our suffering, that He didn’t hear our pleas. It became a wedge in my prayer life because I had been allowing the emotion of the pain to lie to me about the truth we know of God—that He is with us, always.

As I consider the long and lonely years that Anna spent in the temple, I draw strength from her faith in the midst of deep suffering. Anna, a widow, in today’s Gospel knew the steadfast love of God and lived according to that concrete belief. In her immense suffering, she met God in the temple and “worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer” (Luke 2:37). She allowed her pain and loss to draw her closer to the Lord. In her weakness, she sought out Christ’s enduring strength. 

Suffering has a way of testing us. In these most vulnerable moments, it can be hard to believe that He is listening, but the truth about His nature is unwavering:

He is with you. 

Always.

Even in this. 

Relate to the Lord // Where do you need a fresh infusion of hope? Tell God about it and ask Him for more.