Peace in the Waiting

Waiting is one of the most ordinary, and frustrating parts of being human. We wait for texts, for answers, for healing, for doors to open. We wait in doctor’s offices, airport terminals, checkout lines, and seasons of uncertainty. And more often than not, waiting robs us of peace. It makes us anxious, impatient, even bitter.

It’s no coincidence that the Church sets aside an entire season for waiting. Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, means coming or arrival. During this season, we wait to celebrate the coming of Christ, and the Church invites us to wait differently than the world does. Not with anxiety or despair, but with hope, peace, joy, and love.

Today, we meet a man who shows us what peaceful waiting looks like.

Focus Scripture: Luke 2:22–35

Waiting with Faith: Knowing Who We Are Waiting On

Luke introduces us to Simeon as a man who is righteous and devout. But what made Simeon so faithful? Scripture tells us plainly: he was waiting. Simeon was waiting for “the consolation of Israel,” the fulfillment of God’s promises spoken centuries earlier through the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah proclaimed that God would comfort His people, restore them, and send a Messiah who would bring peace. But by the time Simeon appears in Luke’s Gospel, nearly 600 years had passed. In those years, Israel endured exile, oppression, foreign rule, and silence. Waiting had been long, painful, and confusing.

And yet Simeon still waited.

Why? Because Simeon knew who he was waiting on. He knew the God who gave Abraham and Sarah a child in old age. The God who delivered Israel from Egypt after 400 years. The God who remained faithful even when His people wandered. Simeon understood that God does not work on human timelines, but He is always faithful to His promises.

Our first reminder: we wait differently when we know who we are waiting on. Our peace grows when our trust in God replaces our panic.

Waiting with the Spirit: Learning to See Clearly

Luke also tells us that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon. The Spirit revealed that Simeon would see the Messiah before his death, and the Spirit led him to the temple at exactly the right moment.

This is important. Simeon didn’t discover truth on his own. God revealed Himself. And He still does.

We often wish God would speak more clearly, forgetting that He already has, through Scripture. The Holy Spirit reveals who God is by reminding us of His faithfulness throughout history: in the Psalms, in the songs of Moses and Hannah, in Mary’s Magnificat, and throughout the story of redemption.

In seasons of waiting, peace is nurtured not by doing more, but by remaining faithful (in worship, prayer, obedience, and community). Simeon waited in the temple, not outside the door in fear. He trusted that while he waited, God was still working.

Peace Fulfilled: Knowing Who We Are Waiting For

When Simeon finally sees Jesus, everything changes. He takes the child in his arms and declares words now known as the Nunc Dimittis:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace…
for my eyes have seen your salvation.”

Simeon’s peace didn’t come because his circumstances improved. It came because the promise arrived. Simeon didn’t just know who made the promise, he recognized who the promise was. Jesus Himself.

This is the heart of Christmas. God didn’t send an idea or a plan. He sent His Son. Simeon saw in Jesus the fulfillment of every promise God had made, and that recognition brought him lasting peace, even in the face of death.

True peace is not the absence of conflict. Simeon knew Jesus would be opposed. He knew suffering would come. But he also knew something greater: peace with God had arrived.

As Paul later writes, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Living in Advent Peace

Advent reminds us that we are always waiting, not only for Christ’s first coming, but for His return. Early Christians endured persecution and hardship because they believed the future Christ had secured for them was greater than anything they lost on earth.

That same peace is available to us today. Not a shallow calm, but a deep, anchoring peace rooted in reconciliation with God. A peace that empowers forgiveness, breaks cycles of sin, and sustains us through hardship.

Like Simeon, peace is formed over time. Through years of prayer. Through faithful worship. Through trusting God when waiting feels long. As we remember who we are waiting on, and who we are waiting for, we are promised a peace that truly surpasses all understanding.

And that promise still stands.