I hear things. Not voices in my head, but the voice of the Lord in my heart. Two Sundays ago, I heard the Lord say, “Where are My Annas and Simeons?” He was referencing Simeon and Anna who in the Temple received Jesus being presented to the Lord forty days after His birth by Mary and Joseph. Simeon and Anna saw they recognized Jesus in His infancy as the Consolation of Israel promised long before by the prophets. They saw Salvation as a baby, and blessed God, blessed the young parents, prophesied, gave understanding to Mary, and spoke of Him to all those looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
This Sunday, the question came back with a call, “Where are My Annas and Simeons? I need My Annas and Simeons.” “Why?” I thought, and then I knew. Every move of God needs those who know God, in God’s past movements, to recognize Him in the present. God needs those whom He has consecrated to Himself decades before to step forward and acknowledge His Son and those who are carrying His gospel. In the seventies, I would be called forward by those from the Pentecostal movement and affirmed, prophesied over, spoken into, and encourage to run. God calls us from the Jesus and Charismatic Movements, by the Spirit, to see, hear, and receive the Great Awakening and those carrying the seed.
The Lord calls His Annas and Simeons to receive and bless what God has begun before others can see. The Lord needs His Annas and Simeons to prophesy salvation, calling beauty out of ashes, joy out of mourning, and praises instead of depression. The Lord needs us.
