I love this verse in Zephaniah 3:17, “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.”
The LORD your God is with you. Soak this in! The Lord is with you in church as you praise Him; In the bleachers at the ball park; At the sink elbow deep in dishes; On the gurney in the ER...
Psalm 34:18 in The Message reads, “If your heart is broken, you’ll find GOD right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.”
He is with you, walking beside you, holding your hand, giving you strength.
I can seek the Lord in that ER or wring my hand is wasted worry. I can CHOOSE to live in peace or to live in pieces.
And here is a tool for the former. If we know how to worry, we know how to pray. So we form those worries into prayers! When I am tempted to worry, I pray instead. I’m working on it.
Zephaniah 3:17 also states that He will quiet us with His love. Seinfeld has a comedy bit about parents and kids: “Ever notice that with kids everything is up? “Pick me up; Wait up; Hurry up.” With parents everything is down: “Get down; Climb down; Slow down; Calm down.”
It’s true isn’t it?
I have noticed how God does both. He wants to lift us up by slowing us down. In today’s overly stimulated culture, we seldom have any time for stillness, for Him “to quiet us with his love.”
It’s hard to be quiet when we are watching TV, while listening through our headphones to stuff on the computer, and texting on our phones all at the same time. When we’re cooking dinner, talking on the phone to a friend, calling out our kid’s spelling words, while we pet the dog with our foot.
When I let the Lord, He does quiet me with his love and I feel His overwhelming, irreplaceable peace. But I have to allow space in my life for that to happen. Don’t let the multitasking monster drive you away from what you soul needs most: Quiet time with God. I’ve done enough of that for both of us. Let’s make time for Him.