Two-Minute Manna

In Luke 2, we find the story of a man named Simeon, an old man who waited day after day for the coming of Messiah, the One who would set His people free. One day, Simeon was told by the Spirit, “Today is the day. Today is the day you have been waiting for.” As Simeon made his way to the Temple that day, he was no doubt listening for the rumble of chariot wheels. No doubt there would be an awesome army that would march into Jerusalem, led by Messiah, to liberate Israel from the oppression of Rome. Simeon listened. He watched. He waited. But there were no chariots. There was no army. Instead, there was just a peasant couple who had come to dedicate a little, tiny Baby. And Simeon had a choice to make right then. He could have said, “You’re kidding me. I’ve been waiting decades for a teenage girl, a poor carpenter, and a tiny Baby?” But he didn’t. We are told he took the Child in his hands and blessed the Father for making known His salvation.

Oftentimes, we pray for and focus on a specific person or event to come our way, to solve our problem, to set us free. But more often than not, what God sends our way isn’t at all what we expect. We look for an army, and God sends a baby. We think it’s going to be a powerful presentation. Instead, it’s a peasant couple. At that moment, like Simeon, we have a choice to make. We can either say, “What’s the use of praying? God surely doesn’t answer prayer” - or we can say, “I don’t understand this, Lord. But I bless You and trust that somehow what You’ve brought to me today is going to be what’s best.”