For the One Who Wants to See Miracles

You need a miracle.

You need a job. A cure. An intervention.

You need a savior.

Tim Pierce (CC)

So you keep looking and searching. You keep watching. Waiting. But what if there’s a better way? What if the best way to see miracles is with your eyes closed?

A man named Simeon needed a miracle too. The whole world did, really. The Scripture calls Simeon “devout and righteous” (Luke. 2:25), meaning he spent much of his time on his knees in prayer. He read the same prophets you and I read proclaiming the coming of a Messiah, and his heart ached to see Him. Ever since that ill-advised bite in Eden, mankind had a deficit it couldn’t overcome.

In short, we needed a miracle.

So Simeon prayed and listened. And prayed and listened. And fasted and prayed and listened. (No, the Word doesn’t explicitly mention he did these things, I’m inferring them from the text.) In fact his name, “Simeon” means “he who hears."

Simeon prayed for the Messiah and listened for a response. And God responded. Luke 2:26 reads, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” But if Simeon hadn’t been listening for God, do you think he would have heard? And since he listened, not only did he hear God, but he would get to see God.

When Mary and Joseph carried their son into the temple, Simeon was there waiting at the prompting of the Spirit. And when he saw Jesus, he at long last saw the miracle he so desperately sought after: the redemption of mankind. As Simeon said whilst caressing the son of God in his arms, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30).

Maybe you and I should behave more like Simeon. Rather than looking for miracles to happen in our lives, maybe we should close our eyes and listen first. God has something He wants you to hear, you need only pay attention.

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