There is a difference between expecting God to act and pre‑empting how God will act. The first is faith, the second is folly. The Jews were expecting their Messiah to come but they made the mistake of pre-empting what that coming would look like and they therefore missed it completely. The Jews did not expect their King to be born in a manger. The Jews did not expect that the King’s first visitors would be lowly shepherds. He came in a completely different way to what they expected. So many people missed him. But there were some who saw him and it was their expectancy that caused them to be in the right place at the right time to see God’s promise fulfilled. Anna and Simeon were looking for the coming of the Messiah and they did not tire of praying and seeking after God, even though it seemed that God was taking his time. In fact, both Anna and Simeon were very old and they had sought God all their lives. So when the infant Jesus was brought into the temple by Joseph and Mary, in the midst of all the crowds of people, they were in tune enough with God to catch the moment and not let it pass them by. The Messiah, the Son of God, was there in the midst of the crowds but only two people recognised him. No one else expected the Messiah to be brought in by a couple so poor that they could only bring a pair of birds as an offering (cf. 2:24 with Leviticus 12:18). God comes to us in unusual ways.
Is God trying to speak to you through your circumstances? Are you missing what he is saying and doing?
Read Luke 2
