I was thinking about what Mike Glenn talked about tonight at Kairos. He spoke about Simeon and Anna. Both had dreams of their own that were shattered and unfulfilled, but the one dream both had in common came true for both of them. They both saw their Salvation with their own eyes.

Simeon was an old man who held on to God’s promise past all reasonable expectations of how long he should wait. He was stubborn in his belief that God’s word was true, that he would see the Messiah with his own two eyes before he died. Everything else he held onto, he lost, but that one dream he would not let go. The payoff was him seeing and holding infant Jesus in his arms.

Anna was a widow who had spent a lifetime learning true worship. Her days and nights were spent at the temple, praying and praising God. She too waited long past when most people would have given up and given in to see her Hope, Jesus.

I want to be like those two. I want to hold fast to God. I want to be like Jacob, who wrestled with God and would not let go until God blessed him. I want to be stubborn and tenacious in my faith, pursuing God through seasons of plenty and seasons of want, though blessing and famine, no matter what. I want to be able to come to the point where if I have to choose, I choose to let my other dreams die and hold fast to God’s promise of Himself.

“My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing. but Himself, my God” (Roy Hession).

May that be your prayer as well as mine. May our witness to the world be that we loved God wholeheartedly and loved each other in the same way.