God's Messages Through the Mouths of Fellow Believers

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Luke 2: 25-35

Have you ever heard the voice of God?  I've always wondered how He might sound like...I guess I've imagined His voice to be really deep and rather scary...thunderous... the thing is... I have never heard God's voice, audibly, you know? like I can hear my children or my husband (well, sort of...they say I'm losing my hearing abilities...note to self:  get a hearing test this year).  However, I can honestly say I have heard God's messages through the words of my fellow believers.

I have had sisters in Christ praying over me words that are truly inspired and straight from the Holy Spirit!  I have had my husband speak words to me that leave me in awe and astonished (don't tell him) because I know they contained messages God sent me directly through him.  I have even had my kids say things to me that cannot come from any other place than from the Heavenly Helper living inside of them.  Out of the mouths of babes, alright... (Matthew 21: 16)

I believe that God can speak to His children audibly if He'd chose to do so, of course!  He can also speak to us through whispers and thoughts, and obviously, through Scripture.  But I also believe that, more often than not, He uses believers and even non-believers, God can use anyone, really, to speak to us.  Like He did with Mary and Joseph.  We know how both of them had direct, divine encounters with heavenly beings in person and in dreams.  They also had, however, believers speak messages to them that God wanted them to hear.

In the long passage above, we see Simeon.  The Holy Spirit was on him and had revealed wonderful things that he passed onto Mary and Joseph as they entered the temple to consacrate Jesus.  Simeon took the Baby in his arms and, WOW...the words that flew out of his mouth are words not just for Mary and Joseph, but for all of us, thousands of years later.  I mean, he spoke about how Jesus came to reveal Himself to the gentiles!  The gentiles!  A Jew talking about a revelation to the gentiles!  That's us!

Anyway...we will continue exploring the words of Simeon, but for now, I just want to end here and ponder:  Do I pay attention to the words spoken to me by my fellow believers?  Do I really listen to them when they talk to me inspired words in the day-to-day?  In the distractions of my life, am I tuning in to the messages God is sending to me through others? Am I ignoring His "texts"?

Dear Lord, may we be able to say that, "my eyes have seen Your salvation," and that my ears have heard Your voice in the mouths of others! Amen!