February 15, 2021

A Show of Faith

Before I get into today's devotion, I want to be sure you know registration is open for Grace in the Meadow. The QAL and Easter devotional journey starts on Wednesday 😊


Devotion for the Week...

My husband is a Blue Jays baseball fan. He enjoys watching the new players brought to the team from the minor leagues and seeing how they perform as they adjust to the big leagues. Some live up to the hype they arrived with, others don't and still others come with very little hype and surprise everyone by playing consistently well. It's hard to know how they'll do until they're on the team for a while and have opportunities to show their skills.

There was an old man named Simeon living in Jerusalem when Jesus was born. This is how Luke describes him: "At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah" (Luke 2:25-26). 

When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, Simeon saw the young family and he came over and took the child into his arms. He then said, "Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!" (vv. 29-32).

What strikes me about Simeon's reaction is that Jesus hadn't done anything yet. He was an infant! The only things he was capable of doing were maybe cooing in Simeon's arms or screeching as this stranger took him from his mother (because we know Jesus did cry, right?). What He did or didn't do in that moment didn't matter to Simeon, though. Simeon believed.

In the little baby he held, Simeon saw the fulfillment of everything God had promised. Once he knew that Jesus had been born, even though Jesus hadn't done anything noteworthy yet, Simeon was content to die, fully confident that God would finish what He had started.

What if we had that same confidence in God? There are times we see little glimmers that something we're waiting for may someday come to pass, like rookie baseball players who make a good play in their first game. But then we get impatient because we want what we want right now and those glimmers just show us how far we are from getting it. We want to see the end result immediately.
What if we trusted God to finish what He started? | DevotedQuilter.com
What if, instead, we be like Simeon and see those glimmers as the beginning of God's work, then trust that He will finish what He started?

6 comments:

  1. Thank you for your reminder of faith this morning! I love your quilts, too!
    Julie

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  2. Leanne, I’m enjoying the truth in these devotions you write. Will the lent ones be available even if we don’t join in the QAL “Grace in the Meadows”?

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    1. Unfortunately, you're a no-reply blogger, so I hope you come back here to check :) I'm glad you enjoy my devotions! The Lent devotions are only available as part of Grace in the Meadow.

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    2. Okay, I’m more into a modern look these days, so I don’t join the QAL. Keep sharing your faith.

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  3. Thank you for this reminder. You stated it beautifully.

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  4. I'm an avid Jays fan too - and I love your analogy! I had never thought of it that way before...

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