He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3: 17
This has to be one of my favourite verses in the Bible. If ever we want an insight into the Father heart of God's love for us, this verse has to one of the best.
God is with us. At this moment God is with you wherever you are and it is not a passive God is just in the room but God is there, active on our behalf, involved and interested even in the minutiae of our lives. He is mighty to save. There is no situation or circumstance that God cannot save you from even if it is something that has arisen from a mistake or foolishness on your part. God is ready to intervene and save you right now.God takes delight in us. This is a truth that so many Christians struggle with. How can God love me with my life in such a mess? Or how can the Creator of the universe love little old insignificant me? However, he delights in you – this does not mean just that you please him but that he takes great pleasure in you. He smiles when he looks at you. He laughs with you just as a proud parent laughs and takes great pleasure in their child so God takes great delight in you.
He quiets us with his love. Just as an agitated and upset child needs soothing, so God soothes and quiets us with his unconditional (absolutely no conditions) love. He is singing over us right now, rejoicing in us. We are so pleasing to God. Last year my husband and I were in New York having lunch in the very crowded Grand Central Station Food Court. There were only two spaces to sit at a table with two men who were already having a deep discussion. As we ate our meal I listened to the conversation and it was obviously a pastoral meeting and one of the two men’s lives seemed to be in a bit of a mess. As I continued to listen I asked if I could say something which the pastor graciously agreed to. I just started to share with this big black American how much God loved him and had such a wonderful plan for his life so much better than the things he was planning or doing (all of which seemed to be not much help). As we shared the love of God and his desire to draw this man back into his arms, tears fell down his face. He was deeply touched. We left promising to pray for him and reminding him that if he doubted God’s love, he must remember that God sent two British people to sit next to him in Grand Central Station to tell him how much he loved him.
God delights in us. We please him greatly. There are no circumstances that exclude you from his love and pleasure. None. If circumstances have overtaken you recently and you feel like God is far off or even if you are struggling to grasp how much you please God; just declare over yourself right now ‘God delights in me. He is rejoicing over me with singing. I am pleasing to God.’
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