Devoted in the In-Between | October 22nd, 2026

Luke 2:36-38
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age,  and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 7:32-35
32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. 34 There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

Anna was a widow of 84 years. She had every reason to withdraw from life and grieve what she had lost. Instead, she turned her in-between season into a ministry of fasting and prayer, night and day, never departing from the temple. She was not idle. She was active in faith, and she was rewarded with the sight of the Christ child before her death. God does not waste any season of your life. The quiet years, the lonely years, the years that feel like waiting rooms, they are not wasted. Offer them to him.