We are not great on patience, but good things come to those who wait. Especially those who wait on the Lord! #Reflectonthis #DailyReflection https://youtu.be/gVNERckJg1E

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:22-40
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” [Please read the rest of the passage from your Bible]

Reflection
Simeon was a righteous and devout man. The Holy Spirit had told him that he would not die before he saw the Messiah. We don’t know when he was told this, but it was presumably many years before Jesus was born. And what joy for him to finally behold the promised Messiah. His waiting had paid off. We are not very good at waiting, especially when we have these extended periods of darkness like we are in a tunnel and there is no end in sight. If you are going through this now, here is a bit of Scriptural advice that may help.

One: Don’t trust in your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” This means we should rely on God’s wisdom rather than our own. As Paul said, “The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Two: Put your hope in God’s word. Psalms 130:5 says, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” The word of God will not disappoint us because God keeps his word.

Three: Know that God hears you. Sometimes it seems like God is deaf to our cries, but he isn’t. We need to have the confidence of Micah, who declared, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7). Four: Wait with expectant hope. It’s like the expectation of a pregnant woman. It’s a nine-month wait for her baby to be born, but she knows that she will soon have the joy of holding a newborn in her hands. So, let us cry with the psalmist: “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).

Five: know that God will take you through because he is with you. One of the most beautiful psalms David ever wrote was when he said the Lord was his shepherd. Remember it? The second half goes something like this: “Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23).

Say Amen!
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Today's devotional — The Long Wait — is based on Luke 2:22-40, the gospel reading for the day. The reflection is by Aneel Aranha, founder of Holy Spirit Interactive (HSI). Follow him on Facebook: fb.com/aneelaranha

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