There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

—LUKE 2:25 (ESV)

A shooting star. I’m almost certain that’s what it was.

I casually glanced upward into the evening sky while walking groceries into the house from the car, and there it was—the tail end of a shooting star jetting through the heavens.

Or was it? I couldn’t tell for sure. It all happened so fast. You know how it is—one of those moments when you wish you could somehow rewind the tape, go back a minute and a half ago, call the kids outside to come watch with you, and then be standing there, head upturned, eyes peeled upon the spot. If you knew it was coming, if you knew what to be watching for, you could catch the whole thing from beginning to end.

God is moving and working all around us. But more often than not, we’ve got our head down, fixed on getting through the day. We’re not thinking beyond the immediate present, not looking for indications of God’s activity, just looking at our watch and our list of things to do, wondering how we’ll ever be able to get it all done.

Simeon, however, was a man who was “waiting” on the Messiah. He had his day job, I’m sure, things that needed to be routinely maintained and accomplished. But he was simultaneously on the alert, always looking for something—Someone special and life-changing. The Holy Spirit told him the Deliverer was near. And because he wanted nothing more than to see this promised One with his own eyes, he postured his heart in a continual state of holy anticipation—just in case this could be the day when the Son of God showed up on the landscape of his life, changing everything for him and for everyone else around him.

That’s why when Mary and Joseph entered the temple grounds, Simeon saw much, much more than everyone else, who likely saw nothing more than an ordinary Jewish family. He recognized instead the face of humankind’s salvation—”a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:32).

Is your heart fixed today to recognize the presence of God?

To see His fingerprints and hear His voice? The events that others call coincidence, will you recognize them as sovereign providence? Ask the Lord to sharpen your spiritual senses so that you catch a glimpse of His glory. Focus your expectation. Lean forward or on tiptoe. Resist the inclination to be so caught up in the temporal that you miss seeing the eternal. Scan the horizon for where His voice is calling out to you or where His fingerprints are working on your behalf.

Be alert. Be present. Be fully engaged in the day stretched out before you. He’ll be there. Waiting to be seen by anyone watching and waiting.

My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
—Psalm 130:6