Character Building - Learning to Wait - Simeon

Character Building – Simeon- Learning to Wait

⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace. Luke 2:26-29 NIV

We don’t know how long Simeon had to wait for his answer to come.  Luke seems to indicate the Simeon was old.  Old enough that many of his friends would have already died.  Old enough that it looked like the promise may never come.  Old enough for discouragement to be a daily part of his routine.  Old enough that others were no longer believing in his story.  Much time had passed between the promise and the fulfillment.

But on this day, the Spirit moved him to go to the temple courts.  There was no sign over Mary and Joseph that pointed to their baby as the Messiah.  Nothing physically special surrounded this couple that were bringing the baby for dedication.  Yet, Simeon’s spirit lept inside him as he heard the cooing of the baby Jesus.  The Holy Spirit revealed that this baby will bring the peace of Israel.

Learning to wait

Waiting is a sign of maturity – But most of us don’t want to grow up.  As a baby we cry and our mama feeds us.  Then she makes us learn to wait for regular feeding times, which is a challenge to let the baby cry for a little while.  Feeding times to potty triaining are small signs that the baby is growing as they learn make their body wait.

Waiting is postponing immediate gratification – Esau was so hungry after hunting that he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.  Learning to control our desires is an essential element of waiting.  This is a reason that fasting is a regular exercise in a Christian’s life.  We learn to put our bodies subject to our will.  Our bodies must learn to wait, so the rest of our life can experience the joy of waiting.

Waiting is connected to the trustworthiness of the promiser -  The more credible the source of the one making the promise, the more you can be sure it is worth the wait.  We all know what it feels like for someone to promise they would be there, and didn’t show up.  We have learned the adage “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”  But when a credible source tells us we can trust them, we learn to lean into that promise.  When we have a promise from God, He keeps His promises.

The clearer the message, the easier it is to wait and the greater reason to wait – Saul was told to not go into battle until Samuel arrived.  Because of the people, he started the sacrifice without Samuel.  The message was so clear that his disobedience cost him his reign.  Simeon hung on a very clear word from God.  You will not die until you see the “Messiah – the consolation of Israel”. 

Having heard clearly from God – stand and wait.  God is faithful.  He wants to provide for his children.  He doesn’t dangle a promise in front of us for sport.  He is committed to bringing the good things in your life to pass.  Faithful is he who calls you and He will also bring it to pass.

What do you suppose Simeon would say to you about waiting?