Three Wise Women: Finding Hope in Unexpected Seasons

The holiday season has a peculiar way of magnifying everything in our lives. Joy feels more joyful, but pain cuts deeper. For those newly in love, every moment sparkles like a scene from a romantic movie. For those who've lost someone dear, the empty chair at the table feels impossibly heavy. The holidays amplify our realities, whether we're ready for it or not.

As people of faith, we don't escape these intensified emotions. In fact, believing in a good God while navigating a difficult world can sometimes feel even more confusing. How do we reconcile unanswered prayers, unfulfilled longings, and unexpected losses with our faith in a loving, powerful God?

Thankfully, Scripture provides us with powerful examples of people who wrestled with these same questions. Hidden within the Christmas story are three remarkable women whose experiences speak directly to our struggles with disappointment, uncertainty, and loss. Their stories reveal how God works through our heartache and how His presence transforms everything.

Elizabeth's story is one of prolonged waiting. She and her husband Zechariah were described as righteous before God, carefully obeying all His commandments. Yet Elizabeth carried a deep wound: she had never been able to conceive a child. In her culture, this wasn't just a personal disappointment—it was viewed as public shame, even a sign of divine disfavor.

By the time we meet Elizabeth in Scripture, she's described as "very old"—scholars estimate somewhere between 50 and 88 years old. Surely she had long since accepted that her prayers for a child would never be answered. She had faced reality and moved on.

Haven't we all been there? That moment when we finally accept that the thing we've prayed for, worked toward, and desperately wanted just isn't going to happen? When the facts don't align with our hopes, and we have to let go?

Yet God's timing proved perfect in ways Elizabeth couldn't have imagined. An angel appeared to Zechariah, announcing that Elizabeth would indeed have a son. When Elizabeth discovered she was pregnant, her response reveals everything about her character: "How kind the Lord is!"

No bitterness. No "it's about time." Just praise for God's kindness, even though the timing made no earthly sense. Her response demonstrates that she had trusted God's goodness all along, even through decades of disappointment. She never doubted His provision, His love, or His purpose for her life.

Elizabeth teaches us that delays are not always denials in God's hands. His timing, though mysterious, is always perfect.

While Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the angel Gabriel appeared to a teenage girl named Mary with an announcement that would change history: she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God.

Consider the impossibility of what Mary faced. She was a virgin, engaged but not yet married. Pregnancy outside of marriage could result in death by stoning. How would she explain this to Joseph? To her parents? To her community? The angel was asking her to trust God with something that made absolutely no sense and put her life at serious risk.

Yet Mary's response echoes through the ages: "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true."

How did Mary find the courage to say yes? Scripture tells us she sang a song composed of verses from the Old Testament. She knew God's Word so deeply that when nothing else made sense, Scripture rose to the surface of her scrambled mind. She reminded herself of who God is and what He's capable of. Through God's Word, she found the strength to believe the impossible.

Mary teaches us that fierce hope begins with making room in our hearts for God's promises, even when they feel risky or don't align with our plans. We must be willing to open ourselves to possibility, trusting that the God who plants promises within us will also bring them to completion.

Notice God's perfect timing again: Mary needed someone who would understand her miraculous pregnancy. Elizabeth, in her seclusion, was waiting and ready to mentor the mother of the Messiah. Had Elizabeth's prayers been answered decades earlier, she would have missed this sacred encounter with Jesus before the rest of the world even knew He was coming.

The third woman appears briefly but powerfully. Anna was a widow who had lost her husband after only seven years of marriage. In her culture, women depended on men for provision and safety. Remarrying would have been the natural, practical choice.

Instead, Anna chose something better. She dedicated herself to worship, spending day and night in the temple, fasting and praying. For decades, she remained in God's presence.

Where do you go on your worst days? Do you reach for distractions and comfort, or do you reach for God? Anna shows us what happens when we consistently choose worship over worry, prayer over despair, and God's presence over temporary comfort.

Because of her intimate connection with God, Anna recognized baby Jesus the moment Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple. Her years of faithful worship had prepared her for this divine appointment. She couldn't contain her joy—she immediately began telling everyone who had been waiting for the Savior that He had arrived.

Anna teaches us that disappointment and loss don't have to make us bitter. Instead, they can drive us deeper into God's presence, where transformation happens.

These three women faced vastly different circumstances, but they all encountered the same faithful God. The angel's words to Mary echo through all their stories: "For the word of God will never fail."

What if we stepped into each new season with that truth anchoring our hearts? What if, regardless of our circumstances, we chose to trust God's plan instead of becoming bitter, to believe God's Word instead of our fears, and to focus on God's presence instead of our disappointments?

Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna show us it's possible. They experienced unexpected events, unanswered prayers, and unwanted loss. Yet they also discovered that God's presence provides everything we need, even when life doesn't make sense.

The same God who worked miracles in their lives is still working today. His Word has never failed, and it never will. That changes everything.