Believe part 4

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My wife, Debbie, will readily tell you that I am really bad at waiting. Just watch me at a checkout in the grocery store.

Waiting is seldom humorous. Some of the greatest pain we face in life is because we are waiting. Waiting for dreams to be fulfilled, waiting for God to break through and answer our prayers, waiting for healing or reconciliation.

But God is never in a rush, and we struggle with that at times, don’t we?

Two thousand years ago, the people of Israel were in a period of waiting. They had been promised a Messiah who would redeem them from their oppression and bondage. They had waited through the judges. Waited through the kings. Waited through the prophets. And now, they found themselves waiting through silence.

As hopeless as the situation seemed to be, God was at work. He was orchestrating all of human history to culminate in this one pivotal moment in time—the birth of Jesus.

As difficult as the process may be, there is purpose in waiting. In the space between our hopes and their fulfillment, we have the opportunity to encounter the presence and power of God.

Through Simeon’s Eyes 

In Luke 2:25, we meet an old man by the name of Simeon. Like Anna, Zacharias, and Elizabeth, he was part of a faithful Jewish remnant who were anxiously waiting for the long-prophesied Messiah.

Luke describes Simeon as a man who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (see verse 25). The “consolation of Israel” means the comfort of Israel or the fulfilment of the prophecies. Simeon longed to see God fulfill His promise of a Redeemer.

Simeon’s Solace

On one seemingly ordinary day at the temple, this old man’s prayers were suddenly answered, but not in the way he would have expected. There was no sweeping move of God, no mighty army from heaven, no victorious liberator. God answered his prayers with a weak baby. We must always remember that salvation is found in a person, not in words spoken or religious duty performed. Salvation will always be realized through a relationship with the person of Jesus. 

God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord Christ (see verse 26). It is crucial that each of us, like Simeon, meets the savior before we see death. 

Simeon’s Strength

Luke describes Simeon as a man who was righteous and devout (see verse 25). He was in right standing with God. From what we know, he was neither a priest nor a religious leader, but he was devout in his personal spiritual disciplines. God had favor on him and showed him the Christ child.

Verse 25 ends with a little glimpse of the source of Simeon’s righteousness, saying that “the Holy Spirit was upon him.”The Holy Spirit was Simeon’s source of strength to wait in righteous devotion. When we are waiting, we need the presence of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.

Simeon’s Song

Simeon took this baby in his arms and began singing. Mary and Joseph must have been a little confused, maybe a little concerned, as a strange old man picked up their baby.

In verse 34, Simeon blesses Mary and Joseph but not Jesus. Jesus didn’t need the blessing of man; he came to be a blessing. Simeon knew exactly who Jesus was saying, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed” (Luke 2:34b).

The promised Messiah had come. Simeon had been waiting a long time, and finally, the light of the world had come. Simeon’s immediate response was to worship, declaring through song who Jesus is and what he had come to do. We are also waiting for Jesus to come again. In fact, all of creation is waiting for Jesus to return in glory (see Romans 8:22-23).

We are a waiting people, but we are not without hope. God is faithful to His promises. Just as He fulfilled His promises to Simeon, so He will fulfill His promises to us. We can wait because we trust in His promises.

Through Our Own Eyes 

What are you waiting for?

  • Healing?
  • A family member to come to Christ?
  • Financial breakthrough?
  • To be married?
  • To have children?

Waiting is part of the human experience – we cannot avoid it. But God is in the waiting; there is not a moment of waiting that God doesn’t use for His glory and our good if we allow it. And there is not a waiting place where His presence cannot strengthen us.

Our nature is to yearn for things and people and situations so much that we make an idol out of them, thinking they will bring us what we need. We take our eyes off the Lord and betray our trust in Him, putting it in those things instead—that’s idolatry. But nothing outside of Jesus will never fully satisfy us. Sometimes God, in His mercy, makes us wait until the thing we are waiting for is no longer an idol.

God is in the waiting, preparing us, refining us, sanctifying us.

As we celebrate Christmas this week, the fulfillment of God’s promise of Salvation, I urge you to consider, what are you waiting on the Lord for? Are you leaning on His presence to strengthen and sustain you as you wait? Do you believe that He—and only He—can supply your needs according to His riches in glory (see Philippians 4:19)?

Through Eternity’s Eyes

The Bible is full of promises for waiting people.

Psalm 27 is a psalm about waiting. It ends with “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

At first reading, it sounds like waiting is passive, a sitting around. But the Hebrew word “EL” translated as “for”, can also be translated as “upon” or “on”. The KJV translation reads, “wait on the Lord…”

When you wait on the Lord, you wait actively in belief that He will come through. You wait on Him as your source and your strength in the waiting. 

Psalm 27:4 invites us to seek the Lord and know His presence as we wait.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
     that will I seek after:
 that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
     all the days of my life,
 to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
     and to inquire in his temple”.

David found the secret of waiting in the presence of the Lord, worshipping Him and praising Him. You and I are invited to wait on the Lord in prayer. God promises to meet us and comfort us in our waiting.

As believers, we do not wait without hope. No matter what we are waiting for—and what answer He gives—we can always wait with confident expectation that our heavenly Father will give us good and perfect gifts in His time. We can enter His throne room with that confident expectation because we know and trust Him.

If you do not know the Lord, you will not be able to wait on Him, and you will not experience the satisfaction found in Him when your earthly desires go unmet.

God’s Word promises both strength and a blessing for those who wait on the Lord (see Isaiah 40:31 and 1 Corinthians 2:9). Do you believe that?

In the everyday reality of life, waiting is hard. We can grow discouraged and become despondent. Breakthrough might seem far off; God might seem distant. Many of you know that season; you might be there today.

Here is something that I will hold on to and proclaim as long as I live: no one who waits on the Lord will be disappointed. He will always do what He has promised. He will always work for our good and His glory. And He will always supply our deepest needs.

What are you waiting on the Lord for today?