His Promise for the New Year

Our church has a little feature for kids each Sunday during the worship service and yesterday I filled in. I am not on the regular rotation for "Kids' Korner" and I think this is only the third time I've ever done it in the almost-eleven years we've lived here. The first two times, our girls were the only two kids in church (we have a VERY small congregation!), but this time there were several more, including some children from visiting families.

My story was about Simeon and Anna welcoming the baby Jesus at the temple upon His dedication, but the theme was about keeping our promises (ahem New Year's resolutions) because God ALWAYS keeps His.  I talked specifically about His promise to send a Messiah, as well as His promise to Simeon that Simeon, himself, would get to see the promised Messiah with his own eyes.

Though the story didn't go much deeper than that, it was good to remind myself that our God is a promise-keeping God.  It was good to remind myself that His timing and His methods are perfect; that it is my own understanding and perception that are wrong when it seems like He isn't doing what He said He would.  The Israelites had to wait hundreds of years between when the Messiah was first promised to when He actually arrived.  But God kept His promise.  And then, when the Messiah DID come, He wasn't what most wanted or expected and so they discounted and disbelieved Him.   But God had still fulfilled His promise.

Praise God for His faithfulness!

May our eyes be opened to SEE it in increasing measure this coming year.