“And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to all Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel” Luke 2:27-32
Simeon was inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. How did he hear the Holy Spirit? Was it in thunder or the clanging noises of the world? No, it was in the whispers of the wind and the peace in his heart.
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lordwas not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12
In the Old Testament, it is written, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9). Now, in our fast-paced society we say, “Listen, Lord, for your servant is speaking.”
How can we expect to hear God’s voice in all the noise? How can we expect that any would even believe He is real and present, in all the chaos and noise? How do we hear what God is saying when He does speak, when we won’t stop talking to listen? Or, even shut up to let Him get a word in edgewise?
There is a lot to unfold here, too much for a blog post or maybe even a lifetime of thought.
How do we hear God’s voice when we won’t slow down or quiet our world and heart to listen? That is the key, we must slow down and put things in the right order. God first above all other things. The demands of the world, a distant 100th. When we stop the chaos spinning in our life, and take time to go to our knees before God in the silence, we must let that silence first start within. That means we let all the earthly distraction sit outside our ‘little prayer room’ and that we put a gag upon our own mouth.
God will speak to each of us, if we allow Him and quiet the noise of the world. He will speak but is a gentleman, never interrupting us when we are speaking.
Let us each stop the world for a moment, silence our heart and mouth, and listen.
Lord, help us to slow down and listen to the soft promptings of the Spirit. May we always put You first in our lives, and help us to be like Simeon, who was led by the Spirit.
“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”