Simeon

“There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” Luke 2:25-26.

Have you ever gotten a special word from the Lord? You know that it is true, even though you have no idea how it will come to pass. I wonder what Simeon thought about his revelation from God. I don’t think we can say for sure that he knew Jesus would be a baby. From what I have read and understand no one knew the full reality of Jesus being God’s Son until He died and rose again. Even then, until you embrace Him as your Savior this is a hidden reality. I don’t know what Simeon was expecting, but I doubt He was expecting a baby.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

This is one of my absolute favorite promises. It has encouraged me in some of my hardest times. Sunday a guest speaker (Rick Cohen) pointed out that these words mean beyond measure. And as humans, we cannot measure what God does by our standards. He said, “If something is measurable then it is not eternal.” I believe God blesses us in ways that are measurable, that He does amazing things we can see… but it may not be the “exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think.” Do we really want a God we can measure?

Simeon may not have been looking for a baby, but when he saw Jesus, he knew He was the Savior. He was so moved he said, "Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace." Luke 2:29. Jesus being born is an example of “exceedingly abundantly more.” How can we fathom it, measure it? I have been taught this story for all of my life; we’re even given great details on how it all came about. But when I think of it I cannot help but be blown away every time. At the outset I cannot get over that God came in flesh. He submitted to life as a man. Not a man in our pristine Western culture that could have given more comfort. God entrusted Himself to a feeding trough and a poor teenage mother. Such meagerness, but so much power, that Satan could not change a second of God’s plan for Jesus on earth.

We see, two thousand years later, that power has swept the earth. I am amazed at the work of God in my own life and multiply that by millions of people and thousands of years. And it all careens backwards in time to one little baby born in a throwaway town in one of the smallest countries on earth. Yet, at the outset, unless you had the insight of God, like Simeon, Jesus was just a baby born in a questionable situation.

What of your situation? Do you want to hear from God? “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3. If you really do seek, He really will show you great things. And what if He has shown you things, but you don’t get it, or you can’t see it? Then He is working out something eternal, something that is beyond what we can measure. Our situation may look bleak, we may feel ineffective, and boxed in. I wonder if Mary thought, “How can this baby be salvation, a light to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel? There’s no way it can happen!” She could not have imagined who Jesus really was, what He would accomplish. And guess what, we cannot imagine what God will do with our lives either.

Rick Cohen also said, “Our expectations of God are too low.” This Christmas give Jesus the gift of trusting Him for more. Believe that your obedience, your life lived for Him, while it may look at the outset like nothing, is working for “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17.