The Widow the Almighty Regarded

In 1882, Pandita Ramabai became a widow at twenty-three — her husband taken by cholera, leaving her alone with an infant daughter in a society that considered widows cursed and expendable. A high-caste Brahmin woman reduced to the lowest rung of Indian life, she had every reason to despair.

But during a visit to England the following year, Ramabai encountered the God who, as the psalmist writes, "though exalted, regards the lowly." She gave her whole heart to Christ — not cautiously, not halfway, but with the wholehearted abandon Psalm 138 describes.

She returned to India ablaze. In Pune, she opened Sharada Sadan, a refuge for child widows whom society had thrown away. When devastating famine swept central India in 1896, she traveled through ravaged villages herself, bringing more than a thousand starving girls back to safety. Hindu reformers called her a traitor. British officials ignored her. She pressed on, eventually translating the entire Bible into Marathi from the original Hebrew and Greek.

"On the day I called, You answered me," David sang. "You made me bold with strength in my soul." That was Ramabai's testimony too — a woman the world discounted, whom the Almighty answered, strengthened, and never abandoned. The Lord fulfilled His purpose for her, just as He promises to fulfill His purpose for every soul humble enough to call on His name.