Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save , he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in His love, he will joy over thee with singing."- Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord your God is with you.  He is mighty enough to save you. He will take great delight in you. The quietness of his love will calm you down.     He will sing with joy because of you.”- Zephaniah 3:17, New International Readers Version

When Caleb was little, this was one of my favorite verses.  I especially loved it in the NIRV translation, which was what his Adventure Bible was written in.

My favorite part was the "quietness of His love will calm you down."

Caleb needed a lot of calming down... but so did his Mama.  Maybe his Mama needed it more.

As I think about this verse, I am overcome.  First of all... He is in the midst of you.  Is with you.  Is encamped around you.  He's everywhere you are, He's everywhere that I am... He's before us, after us.  He knows where we are headed.  He's promised never to leave us or forsake us.  He's not just sitting in the room with us, not even listening... He's completely committed to journey with us, leading the way and carrying us when we can't take another step.

And He is mighty.  Stop and think about that.  I am weak.  I cower in the face of many things.  I let my fear paralyze me, keep me from moving.  But He is not afraid.  He is mighty.  When I think of the word mighty, I think of an army. Or a lion.  Our God is mightier than those.  He is strong, powerful, and full of whatever we need to overcome.

He will save.  Not maybe.  Not might.  But will.  Every.  Single. Time.  The Work has already been finished for us.  He will save us physically.  He will save us financially.  He will save our heart, our minds, and make us a new creature. All we have to do is aks.

He will take great delight in you... He will sing with joy because of you... oh, wow.  How I need someone to "delight" in me.  I mean, Wallace and Caleb love me, but sometimes they tolerate me... and that's ok, because I'm the same way.

But God?  He's infatuated with me.  He loves me.  I make Him happy.

We make Him happy.  When I think about delight, I think about the exhilaration of roller coaster rides, dripping ice cream cones on hot sunny days, the giggle of a baby.  Joy you just can't hold in.

And God delights in us just like that. 

All those sappy love songs?  They're nothing on what God writes... about us.

The quietness of His love will calm you down.  When you are scared, nervous, angry... just be still and know He is God. When we do this, our blood pressure drops, our breathing slows, and things begin to seem possible.

His calmness is enough.

Just stop and think of what this verse means to you.  Our God is so great... but He is quiet about it.  He's not bossing us.  He's loving us. 

And reminding us that we can truly live a limitless life, if we just pause and let Him take control, and trust Him fully.

Thank you, Lord.

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