Zephaniah

October 5

Zephaniah

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”" (Zephaniah 3:17, NIV)

What great words of comfort. God is with us. That is what the word Immanuel means; “God with us.” No matter where we go, God is with us. No matter what we do, God is with us. Perhaps, if we remembered that God is with us, we would act a little different when we are in difficult situations or when we get frustrated. God is with us. He is mighty to save. God loves us so much that Jesus came to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. He saves us from sin and death. He saves us from a meaningless life. He is mighty to save. He transforms lives through the cross.

 He will take great delight in you. God is a loving Father. He watches over us and delights in us when we walk in obedience with Him. Many people see God as a vengeful God. In the earlier chapters of Zephaniah, we see God’s wrath poured out on rebellious people. But God is a loving God. He wants to correct us and bring us into a loving relationship with Him, through Jesus. He delights in us so much that He will quiet you with His love. These words remind me of the way a loving mother can bring comfort to a crying child. She wraps the child in her arms, speaks soothing words and quiets the child with her love. That is the way God loves us. When the world bombards us with problems, God can quiet us with His love.

 He will rejoice over you with singing. Once again we can see the image of a loving mother watching over her child and singing. Do you ever think about God singing over you? He loves you and He wants to bring you comfort and peace. He takes great delight in you and wants to quiet you with His love. He is trustworthy and true. When the world wears us down, we have a Father in heaven who wants us to come to Him and find rest.